LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF SKELETALLY IMMATURE PATIENTS WITH THE PHYSEAL-SPARING COMBINED EXTRA-/INTRA-ARTICULAR ILIOTIBIAL BAND ACL RECONSTRUCTION: KINEMATIC AND KINETIC RESULTS

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are among the most devastating orthopaedic injuries affecting young athletes, especially when they occur in children and adolescents. Growing interest in physeal-sparing techniques has prompted various investigations into the combined extra-articular/intra-articular modified-Macintosh ACL reconstruction with Iliotibial band autograph (ACLR-ITB), which is often used for younger skeletally immature patients with complete ACL ruptures. However, several aspects of the long-term function of knees undergoing this technique remain under-investigated. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to determine two critical parameters of knee function—the vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) and vertical jump height - at various time intervals following the ACLR-ITB: 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5-10 years, and >10 years post-surgically