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RecruitingNCT05584020Updated Jul 24, 2026

Arthroscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair Versus Reconstruction for Acute Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

An interventional study of ACL Repair and ACL Reconstruction in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries, sponsored by Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-24.

Sponsored by Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
140
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Background: Arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) reconstruction is so far the gold standard for the treatment of ACL ruptures, but this technique still suffers from problems of tendon-bone healing, bone tunnel enlargement, bone resorption, a low rate of return to motion,etc. In recent years, due to the innovation of medical materials and surgical techniques, anterior cruciate ligament repair technology has returned to the field of vision of clinical doctors. This technique has the advantages of preserving the natural ligaments and their proprioceptive sensation, avoiding the bone injury of the tunnel and the complications of the donor site. However, there is still a lack of high-quality clinical randomized controlled trails to provide evidence of the effect of arthroscopic ACL repair.

Hypothesis: Arthroscopic ACL repair is comparable to ACL reconstruction in patients with ACL tears (Sherman grades I and II).

Study Design: This study was a prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, parallel-controlled, non-inferiority trial design. A total of 330 patients with ACL tears were randomly divided into 2 groups, and were randomly assigned to the experimental group (arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament repair) and the control group (arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction) according to 1:1. Follow-up knee function and other scores were performed at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after surgery, and the total study time is expected to be 3 years.

02

Conditions studied

  • Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients with anterior cruciate ligament tear clearly identified by imaging or intraoperative microscope, Sherman grade I, II; planned surgery within 3 weeks after injury
  2. Basic reading and writing skills, and barrier-free communication
  3. A smartphone, can use WeChat or be able to learn
  4. Patients give informed consent, and sign the informed consent form, and the process must meet the requirements of GCP

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Combined with other knee joint injuries (posterior cruciate ligament injury, patellar dislocation, osteoarthritis, etc.)
  2. Suffering from systemic immune diseases;
  3. Existing other knee joint diseases or inflammatory diseases, including osteoarthritis, cervical spine disease, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, polymyalgia rheumatica, etc.
  4. Patients who have received local hormone injection within 3 months;
  5. Those who have participated in clinical trials or are undergoing other clinical trials within 3 months before screening
  6. Those who have serious primary cardiovascular disease, lung disease, endocrine and metabolic disease or serious diseases that affect their survival, such as tumor or AIDS, the researchers believe that they are not suitable for selection
  7. Patients with severe liver disease, kidney disease, and hematological disease, such as renal function exceeding the upper limit of the normal value, and liver function exceeding 2 times the upper limit of the normal value;
  8. Suffering from viral hepatitis, infectious diseases, severe abnormal blood coagulation mechanism and other Diseases that the researchers consider inappropriate for surgery
  9. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or who plan to become pregnant during the follow-up period, those who have a positive urine human chorionic gonadotropin test result before sampling; menstruating women should wait until the end of menstruation before surgery;
  10. Severe neurological and mental disorders Disease patients;
  11. Suspected or actual history of alcohol and drug abuse.
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Investigator)
Enrollment
140 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    ACL Repair

    Patients under surgical anterior cruciate ligament repair

    Procedure: ACL Repair

  • Other
    ACL Reconstruction

    Patients under surgical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

    Procedure: ACL Reconstruction

Interventions

  • ProcedureACL Repair

    Patients are undergoing arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament repair. The native ACL is repaired using very strong sutures. This device is used to repair the native ACL and restore knee stability.

  • ProcedureACL Reconstruction

    Patients are undergoing arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. The torn ligament is removed and replaced with a band of tissue that usually connects muscle to bone. The graft tendon is taken from another part of your knee or from a deceased donor.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. IKDC score

    The IKDC is a patient-completed tool, which contains sections on knee symptoms (7 items), function (2 items), and sports activities (2 items). Scores range from 0 points (lowest level of function or highest level of symptoms) to 100 points (highest level of function and lowest level of symptoms). Efficiency of 1 year after operation=Sum of Items/Maximum Possible Score \*100

    Time frame: 1 year

Secondary outcomes

  1. IKDC score

    The IKDC is a patient-completed tool, which contains sections on knee symptoms (7 items), function (2 items), and sports activities (2 items). Efficiency of 3 months after operation=Sum of Items/Maximum Possible Score \*100

    Time frame: 3 months

  2. IKDC score

    The IKDC is a patient-completed tool, which contains sections on knee symptoms (7 items), function (2 items), and sports activities (2 items). Efficiency of 6 months after operation=Sum of Items/Maximum Possible Score \*100

    Time frame: 6 months

  3. IKDC score

    The IKDC is a patient-completed tool, which contains sections on knee symptoms (7 items), function (2 items), and sports activities (2 items). Efficiency of 2 years after operation=Sum of Items/Maximum Possible Score \*100

    Time frame: 2 years

06

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University
    Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310000, China
    • Xuesong Dai, Doctor · Contact · +8613777882818
    Recruiting
07

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05584020
Lead sponsor
Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 18, 2022
Start date
Nov 18, 2022
Primary completion
Dec 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 24, 2026

Study contacts

Xuesong Dai, Doctor
Contact
daixshz@163.com
+8613777882818

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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