Tissue Engineering: a Potential Therapy for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures are common among active individuals. The avascular structure of ligaments prevents natural healing; therefore, reconstructive surgery is often performed. Current surgical options include use of either an autograft composed of the patient’s hamstring tendons or bonepatellar tendon-bone complex (BPTB), or an allograft composed of a cadaver BPTB. Despite improvements in surgical techniques, many patients experience debilitating side effects, prompting the search for a superior graft. This paper evaluates the autograft and allograft methods, discussing the main drawbacks of each, and then presents two models of engineered ligaments that show potential as ACL replacements. Recent studies suggest that engineered ligaments have the capacity to overcome many of the major pitfalls of the autograft and allograft, encouraging further exploration of tissue engineering as an alternate therapy.