Injuries can come in many different shapes and sizes. From a critical head injury from a child falling off of a poorly designed play structure to a football player breaking his arm from a collision. The field of Orthopedics is “the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention or correction of injuries or disorders of the skeletal system and associated muscles, joints, and ligaments.”1 Sports medicine is a branch of orthopedics that deals with injuries caused in sport related activities. 2 This report informs the reader of a specific sports injury known as an ACL tear. It will discuss the structure of the knee, the importance of an ACL, the cause, effect, diagnosis, surgical procedure, and recovery of an ACL tear.
Structure of the Knee
Although the knee joint may look like a simple joint, it is one of the most complex. Moreover, the knee is more likely to be injured than is any other joint in the body. We tend to ignore our knees until something happens to them that causes pain. As the saying goes, however, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."2
It consists of many ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and bone that all work harmoniously together to allow us to walk, run, jump, etc. The knee consists of two (2) bones, four (4) major ligaments, two (2) pads of soft tissue known as menisci, and one (1) large area of articular cartilage (see figure 1). The four major ligaments in the knee are the PCL, MCL, LCL, and the ACL.
The Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) and the Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) are the first two of four ligaments in the knee that limit movement of the Tibia.3 The MCL originates at the inferior medial condyle of the Femur and inserts into the superior medial condyle of the Tibia, and the LCL originates at the inferior lateral condyle of the Femur and inserts into the superior lateral condyle of the Tibia. The MCL and LCL function as “cables” that limit side-to-side motion of the Tibia (see figure 1). 4
Figure 1: Structure of the Knee
The Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) and the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) are the other two of four ligaments that work together to limit excess movement in the knee joint.5 The PCL originates at the medial posterior portion of the Femoral condyle and inserts into the lateral anterior portion of the Tibial condyle, and the ACL originates at the lateral posterior portion of the Femoral condyle and inserts into the medial anterior portion of the Tibial condyle. The “Cruciate” portion of the names comes from the fact that the ACL and the PCL cross each other with the ACL crossing anteriorly and the PCL crossing posteriorly (see figure 1). The PCL and ACL function as a structural components of the knee that keep the Tibia from sliding posterior and anterior to the Femur, respectively.6
The Meniscus is a crescent-shaped wedge of tough, rubbery, fibrous tissue located in the knee joint between the inferior portion of the Femur and the superior portion of the Tibia.7 There are two menisci within the knee, one on the outer aspect (lateral meniscus) and one on the inner aspect (medial meniscus) (see figure 2). The meniscus acts as a shock absorber protecting the articular cartilage that covers the ends of both the femur and the tibia. The meniscus also assists in lubricating the joint and in stabilizing the knee by controlling its rotation.8
Articular cartilage is a tough, elastic tissue that covers the inferior portion of the Femoral condyles (see Figure 2). It enables the Femur and the Tibia to move smoothly over one another.9
Figure 2: Superior View of the Menisci
Importance of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is the major stabilizing ligament of the knee.10 It prevents the femur from sliding backwards on the tibia (or the tibia sliding forwards on the femur), but most importantly, it (and the PCL) stabilize the knee in a rotational fashion. Thus, if one of these ligaments is significantly damaged, the knee will be unstable when planting the foot of the injured extremity and pivoting, causing the knee to buckle and give way. 11
1. http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=orthopedics
2. http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05001.htm
3. http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sportsmedicine/
4. http://knee.upmc.com/PCLInjury.htm
5. http://knee.upmc.com/PCLInjury.htm
6. http://knee.upmc.com/PCLInjury.htm
7. http://knee.upmc.com/PCLInjury.htm
8. http://www.regenbio.com/the_meniscus.htm
9. http://www.regenbio.com/the_meniscus.htm
10. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=242&topcategory=Knee
11. http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05001.htm
12.
1. http://knee.upmc.com/PCLInjury.htm
2. http://www.regenbio.com/the_meniscus.htm
3.
Registered Members, login
Join now, it's free
Property of EssaySwap.com
