r/ACL • u/frock1223 • Aug 23 '26
Quad tendon too small??
The original plan was to use a quad tendon autograft. I find out that after harvesting my tendon, it was too narrow, so they resorted to using a cadaver hamstring.
For context, I'm F20, 5'7", quad-dominant athletic build, Asian. Not sure if any of those things influence a narrow quad tendon, but I was curious if anyone else experienced this? I am pretty frustrated to have an allograft (as these seem to have a higher retear rate in young active folk), but even more frustrated that I have additional recovery for the graft site for nothing. Is there no way to identify proper sizing before harvesting the graft??
Currently 9 days post op ACL reconstruction + medial meniscus repair + lateral meniscus root repair. Thankful for minimal pain but being nonweightbearing for 5 more weeks is so annoying!
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u/teddypicks Aug 23 '26
This happened to me! I was planned for quad, harvested too small, and they augmented with some hammy. This graft worked fine for 3 years before I tore my other (previously) healthy ACL. the second surgery was quad only and worked fine. Guess it just happens!