A bone patellar-tendon bone graft is the gold standard for replacement of a torn cruciate ligament in the knee, where a part of the patellar tendon is used as the graft material.
Page updated November 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)
Harvesting the patellar tendon
The central one third of this tendon can be 'harvested', together with a bone block at each end - the upper block from the patella (kneecap) itself and the lower block from the tibia bone (shin). This harvested tendon is thus 'bone-patellar tendon-bone' in structure.
Quick links
Peer-reviewed papers
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Quote:
"Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with bone–patellar tendon–bone autograft....[is] a reliable graft and is the preferred option for competitive athletes given its excellent track record with high return-to-play rates and low failure rates. Disadvantages to using this graft include donor site morbidity and associated postoperative anterior knee pain, the risk of patellar fracture or patellar tendon tear, and the potential for graft-construct mismatch."
Citation: Frank RM, Higgins J, Bernardoni E, Cvetanovich G, Bush-Joseph CA, Verma NN, Bach BR Jr. Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Basics: Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Autograft Harvest. Arthrosc Tech. 2017 Jul 31;6(4):e1189-e1194. doi: 10.1016/j.eats.2017.04.006. PMID: 29354416; PMCID: PMC5621981.
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