ACL Reconstruction Surgery: Which Tissue Is Used In This Procedure? - Dr. Mullen

Dr. Mullen:
One of the most common questions that women ask me is, “What’s the tissue that I am going to use to rebuild their ACL?”

And there’s a number of options there. Some patients choose to use an autograft, which of course is coming from their own body.

We can use a piece of the patella tendon. We can use a hamstring tendon, and we get good success with both of those pieces of tissue.

A third option is becoming more popular is to use allograft tissue, that is tissue that came from a cadaver.

That tissue is, of course, sterilized, prepared for surgery and offers the advantages of smaller scars, smaller surgery, because we don’t have to harvest any of that tissue from the patient herself.

“Can I get a disease from the graft tissue?” This is a question that a lot of people ask me. Of course, it’s a great concern.

Chances of it happening are extremely small. American Association of Tissue Banks has put in a set of regulations that require agencies that supply these allograft tissues to put their tissue through rigorous testing.

I can never say it’s not a possibility but it’s really, really small.

About Dr. Daniel J. Mullen, M.D.:
Dr. Daniel J. Mullen, M.D., specializes in reconstructive procedures of both the knee and shoulder. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame. He went to medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia and did his orthopaedic training in Baltimore centered out of Union Memorial Hospital. He also worked at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and the Shock Trauma Center. He did a fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio where he was assistant team doctor for the Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the spring training division of the Cleveland Indians. He has authored numerous articles and textbook chapters and delivered many research and teaching presentations on surgery of the knee and the shoulder on both a national and international level. He volunteers his time and resources to help the local high school athletes during their sporting seasons. He lives in Gilbert, AZ, with his wife and two boys.

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• Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury