BMJ  2006;332:1153 (13 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7550.1153-a

Letter

Hamstring v patellar tendon autografts

When to operate is important

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—Blau et al's meta-analysis shows that there is little to choose between hamstring and patellar tendon grafts in knee reconstruction.1 Patients and their doctors also need help in deciding when to operate and when to decide for a conservative approach. As Blau et al point out, the referring practitioner decides the surgical technique by choosing the surgeon. The decision to operate at all is also made by the surgeon, unfortunately often based on fee for service objectives, although the outcomes remain controversial.

It would be of great interest to patients and doctors to add an additional control group of conservatively treated patients (no surgery) into the evaluation of long term outcomes of anterior cruciate ligament rupture and its appropriate treatment.

Peter Mrak, internist

A-8112 Gratwein, Austria peter.mrak@lkh-hoergas.at

Competing interests: None declared.

  1. Biau DJ, Tournoux C, Katsahian S, Schranz PJ, Nizard RS. Bone-patellar tendon-bone autografts versus hamstring autografts for reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament: meta-analysis. BMJ 2006;332: 995-1001. (29 April.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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Relevant Article

Bone-patellar tendon-bone autografts versus hamstring autografts for reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament: meta-analysis
David J Biau, Caroline Tournoux, Sandrine Katsahian, Peter J Schranz, and Rémy S Nizard
BMJ 2006 332: 995-1001. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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