<i>Editorial Commentary</i> : Results From Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair Remain Inferior to Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Repair of the anterior cruciate ligament, long abandoned as ineffective, has shown a resurgence in interest as an alternative to reconstruction. The potential advantage of anterior cruciate ligament repair is preserving native ligament with potential proprioception retention and avoidance of autograft donor-site morbidity. The technique has been refined for proximal tears where the ligament can be brought back to the femoral footprint. Suture augmentation has been utilized by some surgeons, although an advantage of augmentation has not been proven. Overall, anterior cruciate ligament repair results have not approached the results of reconstruction, although some authors have reported comparable results in older patients with lower degrees of postinjury instability.