Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate the healing of the quadriceps tendon donor site after partial thickness graft harvesting through ultrasound imaging at a short-term follow-up of 6-month following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and to investigate the clinical outcomes. METHODS: Between March 2019 and August 2020, 61 knees were retrospectively included in this study. Intraoperatively, the length, width and thickness of the harvested QT graft were measured. At a 6-month follow-up, patients were assessed by one of five radiologists, following the same protocol to calculate the defect volume, and patients performed a self-evaluation of pain on the Visual Analogue Scale, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores (KOOS). RESULTS: Intraoperatively, the QT grafts had a volume of 4635.4 ± 912.5 mm(3). Postoperatively, ultrasound was performed at 6.5 ± 0.7 months, and the defect volume was 323.3 ± 389.2 mm(3), representing a healing rate of 93% ± 9% of the donor site. At a minimum 6-month follow-up, IKDC was 61.6 ± 16 and KOOS was 70.2 ± 16.6. Age was significantly associated with the healing rate (β: -0.005; p = 0.032). CONCLUSION: At 6 months follow-up, the defect size of the QT donor site had healed by 93 ± 9% leaving a mean defect volume of 323.3 mm(3) according to ultrasound measurements. This suggests that the QT has a high capacity for healing after graft harvesting, with 10 patients reaching full defect closure 6 months after surgery. The clinical relevance of these findings is that the quadriceps tendon donor site has high rates of healing, but surgeons should be aware of lower healing rates in older patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, retrospective case series.