Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries
The anterior cruciate ligament is a very important ligament that connects the lower and upper bones in our knee joint, especially in charge of anterior-posterior stability of the knee. Looking at the anatomy of the knee, the structure of anterior cruciate ligament connects the upper bone, which we call the femur and the lower bone, which we call the tibia and extends from the inner side to the outer side and from front to back. It is a very important ligament that ensures the stability of the knee, especially in opening and closing movements and gliding movements to the back and forth. It is approximately 3 cm long and 1 cm thick. Generally, it ruptures after trauma and sports activity injuries in young people, and when this happens, the regular functioning mechanism of the knee is disrupted. The reason why it is usually in young people is that active individuals are more common in sports and daily life, so there is a greater risk of injury..
What are the Symptoms of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries? What Complaints do Patients Have?
Different complications occur in anterior cruciate ligament injuries:
While moving, there is a feeling of breaking and a snapping sound comes from the knee.
Severe pain is felt locally in the knee and the entire leg.
Edema, bruising or redness may be visible in the knee due to internal bleeding in ruptures.
Due to edema, the mobility of the knee decreases and it is difficult to move it.
Walking difficulty is experienced in anterior cruciate ligament injuries and the patient may experience temporary limping.
The sudden numbness in the leg during walking prevents the movement of the leg.
In some cases, there may be a feeling that the knee has moved out of place.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Someone with a severed anterior cruciate ligament, essentially in full layer tears, that is, if there is a feeling of emptiness when he kneels down with a rotation or if there is pain, it is absolute and inevitable for this person to have surgery. In these people whose anterior cruciate ligament is torn, in order to prevent this thinned part from being torn again by a possible future trauma; taking precautions, resting, exercises and stem cell injections that can be made into the ligament are used for self repair.
The prominent treatment for completely severed ligaments is to anatomically repair this ligament with another strong one. This ligament cannot be spliced together by sewing. When we remove the torn part at the end of the ligament, it is not possible to splice together the ones from those two bones, so it is usually taken from another place, that is, the back of our knee. Usually 2 bonds are taken which are doubled on themselves and when doubled, a 4-fold bond is obtained. This 4-fold ligament is up to 30% stronger than the normal anterior cruciate ligament.
In this way, the knee regains its stable function.
The surgery performed is a one-day operation. It’s a closed surgery with a camera.
