Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury
HPE 101
February 22, 2010
The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is one of four major knee ligaments. The ACL is critical to knee stability, and people who injure their ACL often complain of symptoms of their knee giving-out from under them. Therefore, many patients who sustain an ACL tear opt to have surgical treatment of this injury. An ACL tear is most often a sports-related injury. ACL tears can also occur during rough play, mover vehicle collisions, falls, and work-related injuries. About 80% of sports-related ACL tears are "non-contact" injuries. This means that the injury occurs without the contact of another athlete, such as a tackle in football. Most often ACL tears occur when pivoting or landing …show more content…
If you don't do sports that require an ACL, and you don't have an unstable knee, then you may not need ACL surgery. The is also a debate about how to treat a partial ACL tear. If the ACL is not completely torn, then ACL reconstruction surgery may not be necessary. Many patients with an ACL tear start to feel better within a few weeks of the injury. These individuals may feel as though their knee is normal again, but the problems with instability may persist.
The usual surgery for an ACL tear is called an ACL reconstruction. A repair of the ligament is rarely a possibility, and thus the ligament is reconstructed using another tendon or ligament to substitute for the torn ligament. The are several options for how to perform ACL surgery. ACL reconstruction surgery uses a graft to replace the ligament. The most common grafts are autografts using part of your own body, such as the tendon of the kneecap (patellar tendon) or one of the hamstring tendons. Other good choices include allograft tissue, which is donor material. Repair surgery generally is only used in the case of an avulsion fracture (a separation of the ligament and a piece of the bone from the rest of the bone). In this …show more content…
ACL failure has been linked to heavy or stiff-legged landing; as well as twisting or turning the knee while landing, especially when the knee is in the valgus (knock-knee) position.Women in sports such as football (soccer), basketball, tennis and volleyball are significantly more prone to ACL injuries than men. The discrepancy has been attributed to differences between the sexes in anatomy, general muscular strength, reaction time of muscle contraction and coordination, and training techniques. A recent study suggests hormone-induced changes in muscle tension associated with menstrual cycles may also be an important factor ). Women have a relatively wider pelvis, requiring the femur to angle toward the knees .The majority of ACL injuries occur in athletes landing flat on their heels. The latter directs the forces directly up the tibia into the knee, while the straight-knee position places the lateral femoral condyle on the back-slanted portion of the tibia. The resultant forward slide of the tibia relative to the femur is restrained primarily by the now-vulnerable
HPE 101
February 22, 2010
The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is one of four major knee ligaments. The ACL is critical to knee stability, and people who injure their ACL often complain of symptoms of their knee giving-out from under them. Therefore, many patients who sustain an ACL tear opt to have surgical treatment of this injury. An ACL tear is most often a sports-related injury. ACL tears can also occur during rough play, mover vehicle collisions, falls, and work-related injuries. About 80% of sports-related ACL tears are "non-contact" injuries. This means that the injury occurs without the contact of another athlete, such as a tackle in football. Most often ACL tears occur when pivoting or landing …show more content…
If you don't do sports that require an ACL, and you don't have an unstable knee, then you may not need ACL surgery. The is also a debate about how to treat a partial ACL tear. If the ACL is not completely torn, then ACL reconstruction surgery may not be necessary. Many patients with an ACL tear start to feel better within a few weeks of the injury. These individuals may feel as though their knee is normal again, but the problems with instability may persist.
The usual surgery for an ACL tear is called an ACL reconstruction. A repair of the ligament is rarely a possibility, and thus the ligament is reconstructed using another tendon or ligament to substitute for the torn ligament. The are several options for how to perform ACL surgery. ACL reconstruction surgery uses a graft to replace the ligament. The most common grafts are autografts using part of your own body, such as the tendon of the kneecap (patellar tendon) or one of the hamstring tendons. Other good choices include allograft tissue, which is donor material. Repair surgery generally is only used in the case of an avulsion fracture (a separation of the ligament and a piece of the bone from the rest of the bone). In this …show more content…
ACL failure has been linked to heavy or stiff-legged landing; as well as twisting or turning the knee while landing, especially when the knee is in the valgus (knock-knee) position.Women in sports such as football (soccer), basketball, tennis and volleyball are significantly more prone to ACL injuries than men. The discrepancy has been attributed to differences between the sexes in anatomy, general muscular strength, reaction time of muscle contraction and coordination, and training techniques. A recent study suggests hormone-induced changes in muscle tension associated with menstrual cycles may also be an important factor ). Women have a relatively wider pelvis, requiring the femur to angle toward the knees .The majority of ACL injuries occur in athletes landing flat on their heels. The latter directs the forces directly up the tibia into the knee, while the straight-knee position places the lateral femoral condyle on the back-slanted portion of the tibia. The resultant forward slide of the tibia relative to the femur is restrained primarily by the now-vulnerable