Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear - ligament inside the knee joint that attaches the thigh and leg bone, and prevents abnormal rotation and sliding of the leg bone on the thigh bone. Injury to this ligament can occur with contact or noncontact sports, car accidents, falls, work injuries.

Other ligament injuries, meniscus injuries, or fractures of the knee can be associated. Signs/symptoms include instability with sudden change of direction in walking or running, walking downhill, pain, swelling, and/or limited knee motion and function.

Treatment

Treatment depends on the expectations of the patient, level of activity, and amount of instability and associated injuries. Conservative or nonsurgical treatment options are more common in older, less active patients and involves bracing, physical therapy concentrating on strengthening of the hamstring muscles, and avoidance of activities that can lead to instability (basketball, football, baseball, tennis, soccer, etc. that require sudden change of direction movements).

Surgery

Surgical treatment includes arthroscopic surgical reconstruction of a new "ACL": ligament using a variety of ligament replacement options including patellar tendon, hamstring tendon, or cadaver tendon.