Background
One of the most common injuries to the knee involves the anterior cruciate ligament; also known as the ACL. The knee is set up as a central point where three bones meet together forming the knee itself. These bones are the femur (thigh bone), shinbone (tibia) and the kneecap (patella). All of which are connected to other bones by ligaments. The four primary ligaments in the knee are the LCL (lateral collateral ligament), PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), MCL (medial collateral ligament) and the ACL.
Each ligament acts like a rope to anchor each bone together and the entire knee stable. These four ligaments are divided into two categories; collateral ligaments and cruciate ligaments. The collateral ligaments are found …show more content…
Many surgeons prefer to use the patellar tendon while reconstructing the ACL because of its strength and speedy recovery time. It also is easy to make a graft from a patellar tendon because it’s easy to reach. When creating the graft the surgeon removes a portion from the middle of the patella tendon as well as parts of the bone where the patella connected into the tibia and patella. This bone is then used as an anchor when making this graft into the new ACL. A bone drill will create two holes, one in the femur and one into the tibia where the bone from the graft will be put into position there. Two screws are used to hold the bone plugs in place completing the surgery once the new graft is stretched into place (Stener …show more content…
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