Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (Visit Resource)
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Surgery Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur most often to athletes, typically as a result from collisions in contact sports or twisting and pivoting motions under full body weight or coming to a hard, fast stop and then cutting, twisting or jumping. Football, basketball, downhill skiing, snowboarding, squash and tennis all take their toll on amateur and pro athletes' ACLs. Ligaments are the tough fibrous bundles that lash bones together. In the knee, four separate ligament groups attach the end of the femur (the thigh bone) to the relatively flat head of the tibia (shin) and provide joint stability. On the outside face of the joint is the lateral collateral ligament (LCL); on the inside is the medial collateral ligament (MCL). Together, the LCL and the MCL provide side-to-side stability to the joint. Beneath the knee cap (patella) are the criss-crossed anterior and posterior (front and back) cruciate ligaments (ACL and PCL), which also stabilize the knee. All four ligaments are susceptible to injury, and the ACL in particular. The ACL provides joint stability, reinforces the MCL and prevents the tibia from rotating and sliding too far forward (hyperextension) during physical activity. The ACL also contributes to rotation motions of the knee.
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Added: Fri Oct 20 2006
