The Ligament Augmentation Device in Hamstring Grafts for Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament*

Twenty-eight patients who had reconstructions of the anterior cruciate ligament with a ligament augmentation device in the semitendinosus and gracilis tendons were compared with 32 patients who had reconstructions with semitendinosus and gracilis tendons alone. Pre-operatively, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups with respect to age, sex, Tegner activity level, and time from injury to operation. Mean postop-erative followup was 31.4 months for the augmentation group and 32.3 months for the nonaugmentation group. At postoperative evaluation, there was no difference in the 2 groups with respect to Lysholm knee scores, re-turn to activity as measured by Tegner levels, KT-1000 arthrometer laxity testing, presence of pivot shift o