Anthropometric references for reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament in the anatomical position ORIGINAL ARTICLE Eur. J. Anat. 17 (3): 176-181 (2013) Gustavo A. Compeán-Martínez 1 , Félix Vilchez-Cavazos 2 , Carlos Acosta-Olivo 2 , Oscar F. Mendoza-Lemus 2 , Oscar de la Garza-Castro 1 , Rosa I. Guzmán-Avilán 1 , Rodrigo E. Elizondo-Omaña* 1 and Santos Guzmán López 1 1 Department of Human Anatomy, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico and 2 Department of Traumatology and Orthopedics, Hospital Universitario, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico SUMMARY Recent anatomical and biomechanical studies have established that the anatomical position in the reconstruction of the anterior cruciate liga- ment (ACL) is ideal because this position results in a lower placement of the femoral tunnels, which provides optimal biomechanical function of the graft, and because anterior translation and rotational stability are controlled. Ten femurs (five left and five right) and ten tibias (five left and five right) were dissected to analyze the various bony prominences of the lateral wall of the intercondy- lar fossa. Parameters were also established for the measurement of the ACL and its anterome- dial and posterolateral bundles. Regarding the results in the medial wall of the lateral femoral condyle, different bony landmarks were consid- ered, such as the distances from the bone- cartilage transition of anterior and posterior point of femoral condyle to the bifurcated ridge obtain- ing 7.68 + 2.15 mm and 7.99 + 2.15 mm , respec- tively. On the tibial bone we considered the length between the free edges of lateral and me- dial menisci, to the medial and lateral edges of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) , finding a dis- tance of 2.5 cm + 1.20mm. All these references during knee arthroscopy are useful to the sur- geon, providing tools for the proper placement of the tunnels used in the reconstruction surgery of the ACL. Key words: Anterior cruciate ligament – Femoral tunnels – Reconstruction of ACL – Anterior cruci- ate ligament bundles INTRODUCTION The rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most common pathologies in orthopedics, especially for patients who partici- pate in sports (Fu, 1999; Griffin, 2000; Myklebust, 1997; Prodromos et al., 2007) Recent studies have reported that between 30% and 35% of pa- tients with ACL ruptures who undergo reconstruc- tive surgery do not return to performing at the same level of athletic activity after the surgery (Biau, 2007; Freedman et al., 2003). The clinical results of ACL repair are not satis- factory in all patients. (Aglietti, 1997; Carson, 2004; Colosimo, 2001; Getelman, 1999; Marti- nek, 2002; Taggart, 2004). The principal cause of this dissatisfaction is attributed to the fact that the position of the ACL in surgical reconstruction is not optimal. (Howell, 1998; Sommer, 2000; Dia- mantopoulus, 2008). Originally, repairs to the ACL by arthroscopic means were not performed in the anatomical position of the ACL because of 176 Submitted: 9 February, 2013. Accepted: 13 April, 2013. Corresponding author: C. Rodrigo E. Elizondo Omaña. Ave. Madero y Dr. Aguirre Pequeño s/n, Col. Mitras Centro, Monte- rrey, Nuevo León 64460, Mexico. Tel: 00 (52) 81 83294171. E-mail: rod_omana@yahoo.com