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Peroneal nerve damage by bicortical tibial screw in ACL reconstruction

  • Knee
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Arthroscopically assisted anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is regarded as a minimally invasive surgery with low morbidity but complications still occur. Reports of neurovascular injuries related to graft harvesting, tunnel placement, or graft fixation are limited. A rare case of peroneal nerve injury related to hardware used for graft fixation in the tibial in a 28-year-old female patient who underwent an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery using a patellar tendon graft (bone-tendon-bone graft) is presented. Post-operatively, the patient presented with clinical signs of peroneal nerve damage and a reduced range of motion of the knee. Plain radiographs of the knee showed the bicortical screw which used for tibial fixation of the graft, penetrating the fibula and projecting beyond the lateral cortex of the fibular neck. The patient was treated with removal of the hardware and the graft. Intensive physiotherapy resulted in gradual improvement and at 6 months after the second operation the patient regained full range of motion of the knee and almost full muscle strength performing her daily activities without any difficultly and she is at the moment unwilling to undergo further procedure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rethymno, Greece

    Antonios Papoutsidakis

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Democritus University of Thrace, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, 68100, Alexandroupolis, Greece

    Georgios I. Drosos, Ourania I. Koukou & Dionysios-Alexandros Verettas

  3. Iatriko Centre, Athens, Greece

    Nikolaos Piskopakis

Authors
  1. Antonios Papoutsidakis
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  2. Georgios I. Drosos
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  3. Ourania I. Koukou
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  4. Nikolaos Piskopakis
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  5. Dionysios-Alexandros Verettas
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Correspondence to Ourania I. Koukou.

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Papoutsidakis, A., Drosos, G.I., Koukou, O.I. et al. Peroneal nerve damage by bicortical tibial screw in ACL reconstruction. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 18, 794–796 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-009-0980-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-009-0980-0

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