Peroneal Nerve Injury Arising from Harvesting a Contralateral Hamstring Autograft for Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Case Report

CASE: A 22-year-old man underwent a posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction following a sporting injury. Postoperatively, he developed a new foot drop on the hamstring harvest side that was contralateral to the ligamentous injury. On surgical exploration, a lesion in the peroneal nerve fascicles of the sciatic nerve, 20 cm from the fibula head, was neurolyzed with improvement in the foot drop. CONCLUSIONS: Sciatic nerve injury is a rare complication when harvesting the hamstring. Care of orientation of the tendon stripper blade and direction of harvest is required to avoid injury to the sciatic nerve.