The sizing of hamstring grafts for anterior cruciate reconstruction: intra- and inter-observer reliability

• Published in: Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2015-04, Vol.23 (4), p.1197-1200
• Main Authors: Dwyer, Tim, Whelan, Daniel B., Khoshbin, Amir, Wasserstein, David, Dold, Andrew, Chahal, Jaskarndip, Nauth, Aaron, Murnaghan, M. Lucas, Ogilvie-Harris, Darrell J., Theodoropoulos, John S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anterior Cruciate Ligament - surgery; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction - methods; Cadaver; Female; Hospitals; Humans; Knee; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Orthopedics; Reproducibility of Results; ROC Curve; Sports medicine; Surgeons; Tendons; Tendons - anatomy & histology; Tendons - transplantation
• ISSN: 0942-2056; 1433-7347
• DOI: 10.1007/s00167-014-2945-1

Purpose The objective of this study was to establish the intra- and inter-observer reliability of hamstring graft measurement using cylindrical sizing tubes. Methods Hamstring tendons (gracilis and semitendinosus) were harvested from ten cadavers by a single surgeon and whip stitched together to create ten 4-strand hamstring grafts. Ten sports medicine surgeons and fellows sized each graft independently using either hollow cylindrical sizers or block sizers in 0.5-mm increments—the sizing technique used was applied consistently to each graft. Surgeons moved sequentially from graft to graft and measured each hamstring graft twice. Surgeons were asked to state the measured proximal (femoral) and distal (tibial) diameter of each graft, as well as the diameter of the tibial and femoral tunnels that they would drill if performing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using that graft. Reliability was established using intra-class correlation coefficients. Results Overall, both the inter-observer and intra-observer agreement were >0.9, demonstrating excellent reliability. The inter-observer reliability for drill sizes was also excellent (>0.9). Excellent correlation was seen between cylindrical sizing, and drill sizes (>0.9). Conclusions Sizing of hamstring grafts by multiple surgeons demonstrated excellent intra-observer and intra-observer reliability, potentially validating clinical studies exploring ACL reconstruction outcomes by hamstring graft diameter when standard techniques are used. Level of evidence III.