Arthroscopy Techniques (Feb 2016)
All-Arthroscopic Ligamentum Teres Reconstruction With Graft Fixation at the Femoral Head-Neck Junction
Abstract
Ligamentum teres (LT) tears are increasingly being recognized as a source of pain and dysfunction in the hip. Although debridement for partial tears of the LT has long been established as the standard of care with good pain relief, reconstruction has been successfully performed in select patients to address concerns of persistent symptomatic instability. The current technique for femoral tunnel preparation carries the added morbidity of open dissection in the peritrochanteric space, an unnecessarily long tunnel with excessive bone removal, and a need for a very long graft due to distal fixation at the lateral femoral cortex. To address these shortcomings, we present a technique for arthroscopic femoral tunnel drilling at the level of the head-neck junction, allowing for an all-arthroscopic LT reconstruction.