Although anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using a bone–patellar tendon–bone (BPTB) autograft has many advantages (e.g., high strength and solid fixation), there are also several complications (e.g., anterior knee pain or kneeling pain) due to harvest-site morbidity associated with the use of this graft type compared with the use of hamstring tendon. Therefore the ultimate goal of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using a BPTB graft is to minimize harvest-site morbidity. We have used a technique for harvesting central-third BPTB grafts that involves only a 3-cm-long, longitudinal, curved incision in the medial tibial tuberosity for both graft harvesting and fixation. The purpose of this report is to describe the technique, which can avoid the harvest-site morbidities associated with BPTB autografts during knee arthroscopy. We believe that this less invasive reconstruction may reduce the harvest-site morbidities associated with BPTB grafts because it allows for BPTB graft harvesting without incising the synovial bursa or paratenon and mitigates scarring and adhesion formation.
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The authors report the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: E.K. has pending patents for the system used in this study.