Distal Femoral Shaft Fracture: A Complication of Endoscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Both open and arthroscopic ACL reconstructions have complication rates reported to be between 1.8 % and 24%.17 The complications include arthrofibrosis,9 reflex sympathetic dystrophy, deep vein thrombosis,17 loss of motion,17 septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, graft failure,’, 17 patellar tendon rupture, ’ patellar subluxation, ’ intraop-erative and postoperative patellar fracture,l ° popliteal ar-tery laceration, saphenous nerve injury, patellar tendini-tis, malplacement of hardware (Ref. 1; C. Yates, unpublished data, 1991), intraarticular placement of bone plugs, bone plug nonunion, interference screw damage of graft (Yates), and supracondylar femoral fracture. 13, 19 Meade and Dickson 11 have previously reported complica-tions of the endoscopic technique including reaming of the tibial articular surface, PCL and femoral condyle damage,