Forty-eight patients who underwent distal iliotibial band trans fer (Ellison) for anterolateral rotatory instability and who were over 1 year postsurgery presented for examination and an additional six patients completed a written subjective evalua tion. Five patients only had isolated lateral surgery. In 33 patients there was an additional diagnosis of anteromedial rotatory instability. Of the patients 44% had had no previous surgery, while 36% had undergone one procedure and 19% had undergone more than one procedure. In combination with iliotibial band transfer, 74% had a lateral meniscectomy, 44% had a capsular reefing, 38% had a medial meniscectomy, 44% had a pes anserinus transfer, and 8 patients had prosthetic cruciate ligament replacement. In these eight patients, five prosthetic ligaments had fractured and were included but three were intact and were excluded. Thirty-four percent of the patients were initially injured in football. All patients had thorough knee and radiographic examinations; strength mea surements by using the Cybex testing for knee extension; flexion and external rotation; and completed a subjective ques tionnaire. Of the patients 87% responded that they were im proved and thought the surgery was worthwhile. Ninety-one percent had positive jerk tests preoperatively but only 46% were positive at followup. However, while 53% reported no episodes of giving way, 28% reported monthly episodes, 9% weekly episodes, and 8% daily episodes. Only 15% had no difficulty cutting while 55% had some and 26% had extreme difficulty or were unable to do so. Only 23% reported no difficulty with jumping, but 48% had some difficulty, and 30% were unable to jump and had extreme difficulty jumping. Only 28% of patients had returned to their desired level of activity while 46% had reached only 50% of their desired level. Only 13% expressed complete confidence in the knee while 21 (46%) were in the 75 to 90% confidence range, while 22% had less than 50% confidence. Of the patients 29% had lost extension and 57% had lost flexion. Ninety-one percent had increased varus (adduction) instability at followup, but this did not appear to have clinical significance. On follow-up x-ray films 70% had osteophyte formation, 65% had joint space narrowing, 46% had pain requiring aspirin. Eighty percent had atrophy averaging 1.72 cm. Thirty percent had tenderness at Gerdy's tubercle. As in all studies involving the knee ligaments, the many variables are dependent and poor results do not reflect failure of this one part of treatment. No patient was made worse by the procedure; there appears to be defmite reduction in anterolateral rotatory instability after iliotibial band transfer, which was maintained for more than 1 year after surgery.
