Ropke 2001

Methods	Treatment allocation by surgery date Independent, non blinded assessment Minimum follow‐up: 2 years Loss to follow‐up: not reported Graft re‐ruptures: not reported
Participants	Germany 40 participants (total 32 males / 8 females) with chronic (> 3 months), isolated unilateral ACL tears PT: n = 20, mean 27.4 years (17 to 37 years) HT: n = 20, mean 27.7 years (15 to 43 years)
Interventions	Arthroscopically‐assisted ACL reconstruction with: 1. Patellar tendon (single incision; proximal and tibial fixation ‐ titanium interference screws (7 x 20 mm)) versus 2. Hamstring tendon: semitendinosus tendon (2 strands; single incision; proximal fixation ‐ Endobutton and MerseleneBand; tibial fixation ‐ ligament staples (8 mm))
Outcomes	Minimum 24 months follow‐up for: IKDC (subjective evaluation, symptoms, range of motion, joint stability); extension loss; flexion loss; static stability with KT‐2000 (15 lb, 20 lb, 30 lb); muscle strength with Cybex II (60, 120, 180 degrees/second); return to sports/activity; objective stability; patellofemoral symptoms; pivot shift
Notes	No additional methodological information or individual patient data were received from the authors.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	High risk	Treatment allocation by surgery date
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	High risk
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Independent assessor.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	High risk	The authors did not provide any information on graft re‐ruptures, contra‐lateral ruptures and patients lost to follow‐up.
Other bias	Unclear risk	There was no information to determine gender distribution for each group.