ACL Injuries
Anthony Romero KIN 461/462 Advisor: Dr. Michael Liang Date: June 15, 2010
Introduction
Kinesiology, often known as human kinetics, is the study of principles of anatomy, physiology, and mechanics in relation to human movements. This field of study is a regulated health profession that focuses on physical activity. These principles have drawn me into this field of study and have urged me to specialize in becoming a physical therapist’s assistant as a choice of profession. My internship takes
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An anterior cruciate ligament tear can be confirmed by the Lachman test, the dynamic extension test, and the Pivot jerk test. The Lachman test and dynamic extension test is helpful in, “making a diagnosis, particularly in the acute injury.” (1) The lateral pivot test reproduces, “the rotatory subluxation that occurs in ACL defiency. The test is difficult to perform and takes residents and fellows in my practice approximately three months of intensive training to be able to adequately perform the jerk test in the unanaesthetised patient.”(1) The test is important because the demonstration of the lateral pivot jerk is the replication of the instability that the patient has. The initial goals of treatment immediately after injury are to reduce pain, reduce swelling, regain range of motion, and strength. Even if surgery is needed, achieving as much knee motion and strength as possible can greatly reduce complications after surgery. Immediately after an ACL injury, the so-called R.I.C.E. treatment is recommended. R.I.C.E. stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. 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
Abby describes when athletes typically tear their ACL they are rolling around screaming, unable to walk off. This was not the case for her, however something was wrong so she went to an orthopedic doctor. Due to her stability the doctor did not order an MRI and assumed it was a strained PCL.
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) has limited range of motion, which leads to it being the most frequently injured ligament singularly (Ireland, 1999). This study was conducted to present the epidemiology on ACL injuries in female athletes (Ireland, 1999). Epidemiology is the part of science that focuses on the causes, effects, and patterns of disease and health conditions that occur in specific populations. The epidemiology in this article focuses on female athletes that have had a noncontact ACL injury playing either basketball or soccer (Ireland, 1999).
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
ACL tear is a very serious surgery and requires a great amount of time to heal. Allotting a time period of 7 months to a year to get back to pre-injured state. Contingent on when the injury occurs, ultimately could put you out of a whole sports season. ACL’s are a tricky injury and the more time the better because the sooner you try to compete, the higher the risk you have of re-injury. The longer you allow for the healing process, the better off you will be later on and your chance of fully recovering back to your previous pre-injury state is very
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)
INCREASE IN TEARS Anterior cruciate ligament injuries are receiving a great deal of notice because of the incidence of injury that occurs not only in the athletic population but also in those individuals who are recreationally active (Russell, 2006). Each year in the United States there are approximately 250,000 ACL injuries. This is approximately 1 in 3,000 in the general population (Boden, 2000). Of these injuries, about 175,000 require reconstructive surgery. These surgeries had an estimated cost of over two billion dollars annually in the United States (Yu, 2007). These statistics alone make it obvious that this injury occurs very often. The ACL is one of the most commonly disrupted ligaments in the knee. While the prevalence of the injury has increased, so has the number of athletes in the world since ACL injury research first began. Women are now allowed to participate in sports and new sports are being participated in
If you sustain a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), you may require surgery to correct it. This is not an uncommon injury, and it can occur during engagement in a sport as well as when a person simply twists the knee and falls. Once you have undergone torn ligament surgery, one of the best ways to regain strength and proper mobility in your knee is to rehabilitate it with physical therapy.
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.
A torn ACL is one of the most serious and common knee injuries. Many aspects play a role in the treatment and rehabilitation of this injury. This paper will discuss the anatomy of the knee, describe a torn ACL, and the rehabilitation.
Anterior cruciate ligament ruptures occur 100,000 to 200,000 annually in the United States. It is a key knee stabilizer and is a recognized injury in both professional and recreational activities. It can tear from a hard hit to the side, overextending the knee or quickly stopping while changing direction while running, landing from a jump or turning. Attempts of ACL reconstruction using silver, stainless wires, nylon, silk strings, and various synthetic fibers were first used in the beginning of the 20th century to make artificial grafts; the first experiment failed within the first 3 months. Modern ACL reconstruction surgeries use allografts, autografts, synthetic grafts or a combination to repair or replace ruptured ACLs. Autografts
Whether you would like to immediately start ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) surgery or postpone until a later date depends on a multitude factors. Typically, people wait until after their growing comes to a standstill, but if you are an elite athlete you may want to have surgery and start rehabilitation as soon as possible. You may have a desire to stay active and choose to get the surgery over and rebound back to your previous self swiftly. Conversely, if you are not an active person and you don’t have any pain, is to not have surgery. Even if you are a frequently active person the injury may not be bothersome and you choose to sway from surgery. One thing that makes life easier is you can always return later in life for surgery. Considering
Most ligament injuries can be diagnosed clinically by physical examination, and by comparing the structures of the injured and non-injured knee. This includes examination of swelling, bruising, areas of tenderness, deformity and effusion (knee joint fluid). The strength and stability of the ACL can be tested by the Lachman test, anterior drawer test and pivot-shift test. However, this can be very difficult in acute situations where there is lots of pain,
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
An ACL Sprain may happen when a person rapidly changes direction. Once it is torn, it is not able to heal on it’s own.