The cruciate ligament is an important stabilizing structure of the knee joint, and a rupture can produce significant knee instability and seriously affect the function of the knee joint. If left untreated, repeated sprains of the joint can easily cause damage to important structures such as articular cartilage and meniscus, leading to premature aging of the joint and the occurrence of osteoarthrosis.
The main cause of cruciate ligament rupture is sports injury, and the most affected sports are basketball and soccer. In addition, cruciate ligament rupture is more common among professional athletes engaged in judo, wrestling and track and field, and among ordinary people who are hobby skiers, badminton and volleyball players. Non-sports injuries, including traffic injuries, productive life accidental injuries, are also not few.
The main manifestations: joint relaxation and instability, patients have a sense of knee joint misalignment or playing soft leg in sports, can’t stop and turn sharply, can’t use the affected leg for single leg support; the knee joint is easily and repeatedly sprained and painful during sports, causing meniscus injury and even repeated interlocking; patients with severe instability show joint pain, playing soft leg and misalignment when going downstairs.
Treatment
Acute phase treatment
(1) Apply ice to the knee joint to reduce swelling and pain;
(2) Braking the joint and applying pressure bandages if necessary to reduce rebleeding;
(3) If surgery is not available in the near future, knee mobility exercises and lower extremity muscle strength exercises should be performed after the swelling and pain have subsided;
(4) In the case of combined medial collateral ligament injury, emergency surgery should be performed within 10 days of the injury. If there is a joint mobility disorder, surgery should be performed after the range of motion of the joint is close to normal. “
Surgical treatment
The best treatment option for a complete rupture of the cruciate ligament is surgical reconstruction of the cruciate ligament;
(1) The best time to perform surgery is within three months after surgery;
(2) Arthroscopic cruciate ligament reconstruction is a mature technique with minimal trauma and rapid recovery;
(3) The current surgical methods of ACL reconstruction include: single bundle reconstruction, double bundle reconstruction, etc;
(4) The graft materials that can be used to reconstruct the ACL include: autologous materials, such as N cord tendon, autologous patellar tendon, etc., with the best results. If multiple ligaments are injured at the same time, the addition of allograft tendons or artificial ligaments can be considered;
(5) Reconstruction of the ACL requires fixation materials including: metal interface screws, absorbable interface screws, EndoButton, Intrafix, etc;
(5) In case of combined medial collateral ligament injury or meniscus interlocking, emergency surgery should be performed for a limited period of time.
Prevention
(1) Standardize technical movements; good sportsmanship, do not use foul play.
(2) Increase the lower limb muscle strength exercises and coordination exercises;
(3) Wear the necessary game protective gear;
(4) Keep the field lights and ground free of safety hazards;
(5) Prevention of fatigue training and competition.