Abstract
Although effective to restore stability in varus laxity, a fibula-based procedure
such as figure-of-8 reconstruction can be technically demanding and requires use of
allograft or autograft. Biceps rerouting offers an alternative without the potential
complications of allograft or autograft procedures. It is not known whether biceps
tenodesis is effective in addressing isolated varus laxity with lateral collateral
ligament (LCL) rupture. We compared biceps tenodesis and figure-of-8 allograft reconstruction
for restoration of varus stability. Nine knees were loaded at 10 N-m at 0- and 30-degree
knee flexion in intact, LCL sectioned, and reconstructed state. Both biceps tenodesis
and figure-of-8 reconstruction restored varus stability to at least baseline stability.
Normalized displacement with biceps tenodesis measured at time zero was significantly
lower than with allograft reconstruction at 0 degrees (0.75 ± 0.26 vs. 1.09 ± 0.31
degrees; p = 0.04) and 30 degrees (0.66 ± 0.14 vs. 0.91 ± 0.27 degrees; p = 0.04). Biceps tenodesis was effective at restoring baseline varus stability in
isolated varus laxity.
Keywords
varus laxity - knee ligamentous reconstruction - biomechanics - knee - primary knee
restraints
