When someone tears their ACL, their first thought goes to getting ACL surgery, or ACLR. However, there are non-surgical treatments for special populations. Those populations are young children and older individuals. Additionally, there are alternatives to ACLR. Children with tears in their ACL can be treated nonsurgically. Children can heal easily due to vascularization, or the formation of blood vessels, which plays a role in the healing process of the body. “An explanation for the discrepancy may be that minor lateral meniscus tears heal in children, which several authors have suggested is possible because of significant vascularization,” (Moksnes 2013). In a study of 41 children, 28 children underwent conservative non-surgical …show more content…
Since patients typically obtain ACLR to return to their pre-injury status and contain their normal activities, there is no point in a vast majority of elderly ACL tear victims receiving it. On top of that, the small group of elderly who are active and desire return to activities have to pass a certain criteria for ACLR: “ACL reconstruction in active patients older than 60 years with ACL deficiency but without knee arthritis,” (Toanen 2017), meaning that these active patients cannot have knee arthritis in order for them to undergo ACLR. To put this into perspective, “of persons ages 65 or older, 49.6% [have] ever reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis,” (Arthritis-Related Statistics 2017). This means that about half of the population over 65 years of age can not get ACLR. Speaking of arthritis, ACLR can cause osteoarthritis in individuals over 60 years. In a study review, “twenty-seven of the included studies specifically evaluated the presence of tibiofemoral OA in patients treated with ACL-R, whereas 2 studies assessed OA in only ACL-D patients who received conservative treatment,” (Toanen 2017). This is because the ACLR procedure requires manipulating the femur and the tibia to give the ACL a stake-like plantation so the ACL can be attached. “Two contiguous 5-mm tunnels inside the anatomic ACL femoral and tibial attachment areas along their long axes, and they are expanded with a 5 × 10-mm dilator into parallelepiped ones,” (Shino 2012). Drilling into bone
ACL tears. Immediately to this injury first aid, involving the PRICE theory is vital this should be in place for 72hours. This is protection, rest, ice, compression, and elevation. It is important its protected as the torn ligament does not want to receive any more damage, keeping this in a fixed position of no pain is the best surrounded by things soft like pillows when sleeping and crutches throughout the day. The ice will be very effective in reducing swelling and this is important as fluid and swelling around the torn ligament is not what you want, keeping it elevated will allow oxidised blood to reach it.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important structure in maintaining the normal biomechanics of the knee and is the most commonly injured knee ligament. ACL tears may be partial or complete. A partial tear can involve both or only a single bundle to varying degree, can range from a minor tear involving just a few fibers to a high grade near-complete tear involving almost all of the ACL fibers.
A torn ACL is a injury in which also is a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the knee. When someone tears their ACL they have to have a surgery to replace it. ACL injuries range from mild, such as a small tear, to severe such as when the ligament tears completely or when the ligament and part of the bone separate from the rest of the bone. A lot of the time some of the other knee ligaments or parts of the knee are also injured. This includes cartilage such as the menisci, or bones in the knee joint they also can be broken. Your ACL can be broken during sport activities. During an activity if your leg is planted firmly on the ground then hit by a heavy/large force it could tear the ACL. Some ways your ACL can be tore is by being bent backwards,
Dr. Boden of the Orthopedic Center in Rockville states, “Young women are two to eight times more likely than their male counterparts to injure their ACL.” Although there are some factors that put others at a higher risk of tearing their ACL, like this gender one, ACL tears are common and can happen
Surgical repair after ACL tear is typical for the general public and imperative for athletes to return to high-level competition. Rehabilitation after ACL surgery whether using accelerated or traditional programs focuses on regain of knee functions and functional activity progression in order to achieve preinjury activity level.
Page Description: ACL surgery is one of the best treatment options for ACL tear. There may be other injuries in the knee like torn meniscus along with ACL tear. Reconstruction surgery can be helpful as suggested by the orthopedic surgeon.
The purpose of ACL reconstruction is to restore function by repairing normal movements, replicate knee anatomy, and to protect the knee for a long duration. More specifically, the dimensions, orientation, and insertion sites of the ACL must be restored. To ensure this, future consideration for improvement of ACL reconstruction surgery is vital.
There are different techniques that repair a torn ACL. The popular method for surgeons is the patellar tendon graft procedure. This type of ACL replacement uses the middle third of the person’s own patellar tendon and replacing the damage tendon with it. The advantages are that the fixation is very strong and the patellar tendon replacing
Second of all, surgery isn’t for everyone, especially for kids who haven’t finished growing. Surgery that is done on adults is the same done on teens. Orthopedic surgeons say that fixing an ACL tear involves the growth plate. I know this because in paragraph 5 it states, “Orthopedic surgeon
Whenever an athlete participates in a sport, whether it be practice or a meet/game, they run the risk of injuring themselves. When it comes to basketball, Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are common. ACL tears are more likely to occur in female basketball players as opposed to males. In basketball, speed, strength, and power are the most important physical qualities to develop. Sometimes an athlete may be lacking in certain areas which puts them at a greater risk for tearing their ACL.
With an ever increasing number of people becoming involved with athletic activities, there is an increasing number of injuries occurring which can be devastating for the individual. Most of the injuries that affect athletes occur in one of four structures in the human body: bones, muscles, tendons, or ligaments. Because ligaments attach bone to bone and play a major part in providing stability for joints, the major stabilizing ligament in the knee, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), assists in performing everyday actions of the human body including sitting, standing, walking, running, dancing, and participating in other sports. The injury that specifically affects this ligament is very serious and always
Being an athlete and playing sports is fun, until you tear your ACL. Tearing your ACL is one of the most painful injuries for athletes. ACL injuries normally occur in non-contact activities like soccer, basketball, volleyball, skiing, and gymnastics. Not only do they occur in non-contact activities, but they also occur when you suffer a blow to the knee. Common symptoms of ACL injuries include a popping sensation, immediate pain, swelling, limping, stiffness, and feeling of the knee giving away.
In the sports world the word ACL brings absolute horror and cringe with it. That’s because when an ACL tears it can be one of the most painful experiences an athlete can have, especially with the surgeries and recovery it brings with it. Along with that, the ACL is in the deep part of the middle of the knee, so most of the time when you damage your ACL you most likely have damaged something else. Women especially have to worry about the overall health of their knees as they have a 4.8% greater chance of tearing their ACL than men (Musgrave). ACL tears are one of the worst injuries in the sports world and in order to recover to full health it takes time, patience, and a hard-work ethic.
ACL injuries used to be seen as career ending injuries 50 years ago, however, throughout the years with the advancement in technology aiding treatment and rehabilitation procedures. Yet they are still sever and take months to recover. This is because of the precise location of the ligament within the knee joint. Resulting in no blood clot formation within the joint as a consequence scar tissue will not form and the tissue will just be filled with uncontrolled blood leading to swelling an pain within the joint (ACL reconstruction Oxford university hospital, 2017) which is why it takes between 9 to 12 months for recovery. With an ACL injury, other injuries often follow, namely MCL injuries and meniscal lesions which in time would likely lead to the patient contracting osteoarthritis due to it being a degenerative disorder consequently resulting from the meniscal and
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament also known as the ACL is deemed the most commonly torn ligament in the knee and can result from both contact and noncontact injuries. Most Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries result from an extreme force on the lateral side of the person’s knee causing a valgus force which pushes the knee inward (Kisner & Colby, 2012, pp. 802-803). This injury to the side of the knee can also cause a “Terrible Triad” injury which also injures both the medial meniscus and the medial collateral ligament (Kisner & Colby, 2012, p. 803). Our textbook further states that “the most common noncontact mechanism is a rotational mechanism in which the tibia is externally rotated on the planted foot….this mechanism can account for as many as 78% of all ACL injuries” (Kisner & Colby, 2012, p. 803). If the person does not seek medical help with this injury they are susceptible to also injuring the remaining support ligaments as well. Patients usually present with joint effusion; possibly 25 degrees of flexion, joint swelling if blood vessels are involved, limited ROM, stress pain and instability along with quads avoidance gait patterns (Kisner & Colby, 2011, p. 208)