Hamstring VS Patella

by Gabriel
(Miami, florida)

Hello, Im Gabriel, 28 y/o Male. I love to play sports. I Play basketball, football, and practice Brazilian jiu jit su OFTEN. My question is do I get surgery using patella or hamstring? I have read MANY articles and cant get a clear answer. I understand alot of the plus and minuses but never read the ones I wanna know. Like, is a 4 strand hamstring surgery just as strong as a patella?

I really wanna get back to my active life, is one better than the other for really active people? I need help. Thx

Comments for
Hamstring VS Patella

Average Rating

Click here to add your own comments

Nov 09, 2011
Rating

ACL repair with hamstring
by: Anonymous

My daughter,at 15, first tore her ACL and Meniscus playing basketball, with a simple jump stop, June of 2010, surgery was July 2nd. We went with Hamstring and are very happy with results. She worked her butt off to return to sports, missing half the season of basketball, but came back to full on play in 6 months and 3 weeks as a starter. The doctor had said it would be 8 or more months, she proved him otherwise, by going to Physical Therapy twice a week and doing regular exercises three times a day and icing. She plays year round and continued on with summer ball. She ended up re-tearing her meniscus on bad knee, playing on it until surgery August 5, 2011. Came back with full on playing in two months. Then came Fall ball, pre-season games, first weekend of play, no problem, second week of play, first three minutes of game driving the basket, girl stuck her foot out and tripped my daugher, now 16, down she went and my gut feeling knew. We went to ER, but they said it was just a sprain, yeah right. Went to Ortho doctor, who thought it was just meniscus because her leg was so strong, the tests were inconclusive. Ordered up an MRI and sure enough,completely torn ACL in her GOOD leg. This just happened October 30th, surgery is November 21, 2011. She will go with the Hamstring again, because she is so happy with how the first surgery turned out. As far as Hamstring vs. Patellar, it really is preference. But, the main reason we didn't go with Patellar is because of the constant knee pain when kneeling. With any ACL surgery it is known that you will have arthritis early on, as for my daugher she will more than likely have it in her 40's. She now has to miss her entire Junior year of HS ball. She has been very positive about the whole thing and already planning her return for summer ball and coming back her Senior year with a vengence!

Feb 10, 2011
Rating

Hamstring grafts are the best
by: Anonymous

For the long run,hamstring grafts are the best.those who used the patella method have wound up doing their acl again.and patella doesn't allow u to squat and causes immense pain especially during cold weather.and patella leads to a higher chance of arthiritis.hope this helps:)

Nov 22, 2010
Rating

2nd Time ACL Surgery
by: Anonymous

My daughter is a sophomore in high school. She tore her ACL last year in basketball and had hamstring graft. Did all her rehab, played volleyball all season and did fine. Her 1st basketball game back she took a hit to same knee and retore it again!!Whats worst it was the exact same day as last year. Dr. told her she could finish this season but I'm not sure whats she going to do. We got to the surgeon tomorrow. Hes recommended the patellar graft this time. Has anyone else ever had this happen?Shes missed out a year of sports already now its gonna be a repeat of last year all over again!!

Oct 29, 2010
Rating

Hows Andi??
by: Anonymous

Our 16 yr old daughter just did the exact same thing playing the same sport of BxBall. We have the same exact contimplations on the length of the scar with the Patella replacement and the possible infection with the Cadaver replacement. We also are leaning towards the Hamstring replacement. Her surgery is in the morning. How is your daughter doing with her Hamstring replacement? Does it seem strong enough?
Mom Moni

Mar 31, 2009
Rating

OOPS 16 yr. old...
by: Anonymous

Forgot to mention that we decided to go with the hamstring, and are happy with our decision. First 10 days were rough. They gave Andi Morphine and Percocet, which was hard on her system, and made her very constipated, and sick to her stomach. We got her off the meds asap and alternated with Ibuprophen and Tylenol. I was thinking she may only miss a week of school, but really needed two weeks off. She can't put any weight on the injured leg at all for 1 month because of meniscus repair also.
One more thing... If you get a Game-Ready Unit or ice machine(sleeve taht fits over leg) Be very careful. We used it as much as possible and ended up frost-biting her leg. It was more painful than the actual wound.

Mar 29, 2009
Rating

16 yr. old female hamstring surgery
by: Anonymous

My daughter had acl and meniscus repair surgery on March 3 09. She is a bxball player who plays year round. The dr. took her sport into consid-eration before helping us make a decision. (he is also a dr to the Port. Trail Blazers and teaches these diff techniques to other drs.) Andi, my daughter, did not want to have a huge scar down the middle of her knee, and problems with pain when kneeling in the future. With the cadaver ligament, you really have no way of knowing whether you're getting a 50 or 60 year old male or female ligament, plus the healing process is much longer when you don't use you're own tissue. (plus, you really have to trust that the people doing the screening of the cadaver tissue are'nt slacking on the job)So far, so good after 4 weeks. I'm more worried about the psych part when she is able to play again in the fall. Dr. and PT's say it will be 1 and 1/2 times stronger than before.

Feb 06, 2009
Rating

Patella or Hamstring
by: Anonymous

After tearing my ACL my Doctor explained it to me in simple terms which i guess i have always followed. If i was playing Rugby or full contact sport he advised that i have a hamstring reconstruction. Reason being that it is much stronger. If i had the patella reconstruction, it gives more flexability in the knee and would help for sports such as soccer where i would be twisting and turning alot more.

Hope this helps

Tim

Jan 08, 2009
Rating

Thx, but heres some more advice
by: Gabriel

HI adam, thx for trying to help but i already got my surgery and i did go with the hamstring. It hurts like hell right after surgery but its been 3 weeks and im already walking without crutches without a limp. I dont even wear a brae at all so that im constantly strengthing it. I can run or nothing like that yet but progress deffinatly seems fast. To anyone that reads this listen up. If i could do it all over again I would go with the cadaver donated ligaments. MOST the pain after operation was from the graph they took from my hamstring. You will endure far less pain witht his surgery. My BEST friend had this done and i shouldof listened to him. You will read negative things about it but thats because it the newest method out and only done in the states. The only down side is that it will take longer to get to 100% because the freezed tissue has to re vascularise in your body unlike tissue thats taken directly from your body. But take it from me, FAR LESS PAIN!

Jan 07, 2009
Rating

2nd ACL op
by: adam from england

hello i ruptured my ACL and MCL just over 2 years ago 18 mornts ago i had my first reconstruction which was a hamstring graft unfortunately roughly 16 months after my op warming up for a rugby game my knee went from under me i am now waiting for my next reconstruction operation which will be the patellar reconstruction i have as im sure many others have is that alot of the information is very similar i have read almost exactly the same thoughts on each page not sure if it helps but i have been assured by my surgeon that he feels the patellar reconstruction will be best however he has warned of the knee pain and also the possibility of splitting the knee cap for extreme sports or heavy duty stuff i would go for the patellar purely because the hamstring one did not last for me hope that gives an insight

Dec 10, 2008
Rating

Ummmmm.
by: Gabriel

I understand what you are saying with the bone to bone healing. I have read that as well. But I have read on the contrary about long term. The stuff i read says that the hamstring procedure has less after effects than pattell. Pattella tendo people tend to suffer from kneeling pain and weaker quads. I am by no means an expert and only know what I read on the internet. Im in the ARMY and getting my surgey from a german doctor. He reccommends hamstring, but I did have an ARMY doctor who reccomended Patella. I really dont know what im gonna do. Ihave my surgey tuesday and we definatly keep you and all future visitors informed.

Dec 09, 2008
Rating

hamstring vs. patella tendon
by: Bart - SII

This is the million dollar question when it comes to ACL reconstructions...and unfortunately, there just isn't a clear cut answer. There is research out there to support both graft types - some will say one is better than the other, however, a lot of long term follow up will depend on rehab, patient compliance, surgeon skill, and many other factors.

So, let me give you my opinion, based on the patients I have seen over the last 10 years.

By and far, the majority of my patients have been patellar tendon reconstructions. That was partially because of the surgeons that I work with and their preference. I have seen many hamstring reconstructions as well. When comparing the two, I believe that long term, the patellar tendon ACLs end up with a better outcome - a more stable knee, and less complications.

The key, in my opinion, is not necessarily the strength of the graft. When the ACL graft goes through the incorporation process, it ends up losing strength and then regaining it. The key is in the fixation. Soft tissue to bone vs. bone to bone. With the patellar tendon, you have the ability to heal bone to bone with the bone plugs. With the hamstring graft, you heal soft tissue to bone, and that doesn't produce as solid of a fixation.

In reality, with good rehabilitation and a skillful surgeon, either graft will work well. It comes down to your personal choice, and making sure you weigh all of the options before you go ahead.

Bart

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to ACL Surgery Stories