Applied anatomy and three-dimensional visualization of the tendon-bone junctions of the knee joint posterolateral complex

Abstract Background To conduct an anatomical study of the fibular collateral ligament (FCL), popliteus tendon (PT), biceps femoris tendon (BT) and popliteofibular ligament (PFL) of the knee joint posterolateral complex (PLC) at the femoral and fibular tendon-bone junctions based on the Chinese Visible Human (CVH) and American Visual Human Project (VHP) datasets and to determine their morphology, contact area, center points and mutual distances with the aim of providing assistance for surgical tunneling scheme. Methods Ten knee joint datasets were selected for segmentation and three-dimensional digital reconstruction. Histological sections images were used to establish criteria for the segmentation. The PLC tendon-junctions were observed and studied. Results The FCL and PT had constant attachment to the femur, and the FCL, BT and PFL had constant attachment to the fibula. The tendon-bone junctions of each PLC structure did not have a uniform morphology or the same contact area, but the location of the central point of the tendon-bone junction was similar and regularly attached. All measurements were smaller in the CVH dataset than VHP dataset. At the femoral tendon-bone junction, the average distance between the center points of the FCL and PT was 8.84 ± 1.62 mm (7.73 ± 1.44 mm in the CVH datasets and 9.50 ± 1.38 mm in the VHP datasets). Conclusions The authors propose a surgical tunneling scheme for femoral single-tunnel reconstruction in Chinese PLC reconstruction patients. The research data provide a theoretical basis and guidance for clinicians who need to design and select PLC surgical tunneling schemes.