Role of the Native Fiber Bundles of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in Knee Joint Kinematics

INTRODUCTION: The recent surge of interest in double bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction techniques has arisen from the biomechanical theory that the technique allows better postoperative tolerance of complex knee activity because it recreates both a posterolateral and anteromedial bundle of the ACL while traditional transtibial single bundle techniques recreate only the anteromedial bundle. This theory remains indecisively tested. Biomechanical studies examining the individual contributions of the native ACL bundles to the kinematics of the knee under complex loads are scarce with conflicting results when knee kinematics were evaluated after selective sectioning of the native ACL bundles. The purpose of this study is to assess for differences in knee kinematics with selective sectioning of the individual native bundles of the ACL under simulated Lachman and Pivot Shift testing.