Knee Ligament Injury

Knee Ligament Injury

Your knees are mobile joints that allow you to walk, climb, sit, and kneel. Ligaments stabilize your knee joints for these movements. When you injure a ligament, it may feel as though your knee won't even hold you up. Fortunately, you and your healthcare team can work together to return you to an active lifestyles.

Two ligaments in the knees are most likely to be injured. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is in the center of the knee. It is often injured by a twisting motion, such as pivoting wrong or falling awkwardly. This unfortunately is one of the ligaments that I tore. The other ligament, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) is on the inside of the knee. It is normally injured from a blow to the side of the knee. This is common in contact sports such as football and soccer. Injury to either ligament causes pain and weakens the knee joint. Without treatment, the patient may develop many other knee problems that can have lasting effects.

Proper care can make the knee joint stable again. It takes teamwork: you, your doctor, and your physical therapist all working together. Before the knee can be treated, an evaluation is needed. After treatment, the patient plays a large role in the recovery of the knee. An evaluation helps the doctor know how severe the particular injury is. It also points to your best treatment options. The sooner the knee is evaluated. The sooner the patient can be treated, and the better the chance of full recovery. Unfortunately I was unable to get my knee repaired right away. Dr. Freddie Fu informed me that my knee will return to 95% capacity of what it was at before the tear. He informed me that 90% of people never return to 100% utilization of the knee. Dr. Fu also told me that since I am young, active, and healthy this surgery does not present any long term problems with my knee.

A knee ligament injury can be treated in one of two ways: nonsurgically or surgically. Your treatment depends on how severe the individual's injury is and how active this person hopes to be afterwards. Rehabilitation is a major part of your treatment whether or not you have surgery. I am scheduled to have surgery May 19, 2005 which means I am in for an intensive 6 month rehabilitation assignment after surgery is complete. I have been informed that the active return is solely dependent on me. There must be a large commitment made to regaining and maintaining equal leg strength. A physical therapist will be assisting me in my recovery.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)

The ACL crosses from the back of the femur to the front of the tibia. It acts as a strong support for the knee. But the ACL can be injured if you twist your knee too far or change direction too quickly.

The ACL is typically injured when you twist your knee beyond its normal range of motion. An example is when a person is snow skiing, and the ski "catches an edge," this causes you to twist your lower leg either outward or inward. The person might hear or feel a pop, and your knee will give away. This is exactly what happened to me, but on the basketball court. I heard a pop and could not bend or extend my knee, and it swelled up immediately with excruciating pain. A complete tear of the ACL is like rope fibers coming apart. A partial tear can also occur. Other parts of the knee may be injured at the same time you injure your ACL. In my case, I completely tore my ACL and tore 3 of the 4 meniscal pads in my right knee. The meniscus acts as a shock absorber for the knee.

The type of surgery performed depends on the injuries to the knee. ACL surgery may be done using arthroscopy. This technique uses small incisions. It usually means a faster recovery and less scarring than with open surgery.

The most common type of surgery for an ACL injury is reconstruction. This involves replacing the torn ligament with new tissue called a graft. This graft may be a ligament or tendon from the persons own knee called an autograft or from a donor called