Anterior cruciate ligament injury. New treatment options by tissue engineering

Abstract

Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a common cause of injury in young population. Being an\rintraarticular structure, the ACL does not heal in a similar manner to other extra-articular ligaments, so the break\rbetween the two ends of the injured ACL is not filed with the fibrin clot that appears in the early stages of healing.\rThe ACL tear involves the occurrence of knee instability, meniscal injury and early onset of osteoarthritis. Surgical\rtreatment by anatomic reconstruction with grafts is an effective technique but has not proven to prevent the\ronset of early osteoarthritis. Tissue engineering contributes to the development of new treatment techniques\rbased on cell therapy, gene therapy, use of growth factors and scaffolds to try to get an ACL healed without the\rdisadvantages of the use of grafts. The use of a collagen matrix impregnated with PRP associating direct suture\rof the ACL has demonstrated a good functional outcome with a lower rate of presence of osteoarthritis at one\ryear of follow-up.\rThis review is perfomed by a literature research with the keywords in pubmed taking the most recent articules.\rThe aim is to highlight the new treatment options for lesions of the anterior cruciate ligament using tissue\rengineering.