2026 SICOT Annual Meeting: Comparing internal brace ligament augmentation with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: LIBRƎ study – a prospective, multicenter, single-blind, randomized controlled trial

48 patients with acute proximal anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures were randomized to receive Internal Brace Ligament Augmentation (IBLA) (n=21) or anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) (n=27). The primary outcome of interest was the change in International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score from pre-injury to 6 months postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included patient-reported outcomes, functional recovery, pain, knee laxity, return to work and sport, complications, and treatment failure. Outcomes were assessed up to 24 months postoperatively. Overall, the results revealed that IBLA was non-inferior to ACLR in improving IKDC scores at 6 months, with comparable failure rates and fewer complications and reoperations. These findings suggest that IBLA may represent an effective alternative to ACLR for selected patients with acute proximal ACL ruptures.