Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) in adolescents is associated with high reinjury rates, leading to increasing use of lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET).While LET reduces graft failure, its effect on pain and psychological readiness for return to sport in adolescents remains unclear.This retrospective matched-cohort study evaluated whether LET influences short-term patient-reported outcomes following ACLR.A total of 238 adolescents undergoing primary hamstring autograft ACLR were included, with 79 receiving additional LET and 159 undergoing isolated ACLR.Groups were matched 1:2 for age, sex, BMI, graft type and fixation.Validated patient-reported outcome measures (IKDC, Lysholm, Tegner and ACL-RSI) were collected pre-operatively and post-operatively.Changes in outcomes were compared between groups using non-parametric analysis.Both cohorts demonstrated significant improvements in knee function, activity level and pain at 9 months.There were no statistically significant differences between LET and no-LET groups in improvements in IKDC, Lysholm, Tegner or IKDC pain scores.Psychological readiness, measured by ACL-RSI, showed a non-significant trend favouring LET but was comparable overall.These findings suggest that LET does not adversely affect short-term pain or confidence following adolescent ACLR.The role of LET appears biomechanical rather than contributory to early subjective recovery, supporting its selective use in high-risk patients.
Richardson et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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