ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT OF THE KNEE JOINT
This research paper presents information regarding the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee joint. Discussion includes anatomy of the knee joint and the ACL, and ACL structure, physiology, function and biomechanics, clinical diagnostic tests and technological diagnosis, and mechanisms of injury and treatment. A comparison of acute ACL stability tests includes the anterior drawer test, Lachman's test, and pivot shift test.
The anatomy of the knee includes the patellar ligament, patella, articular cartilage, posterior cruciate ligament, anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament, lateral meniscus, medial meniscus, lateral collateral ligament, fibula, and tibia (25:616). Anatomic and structural differences are found between males and females. Female athletes have increased ligamentous laxity and flexibility compared to their male counterparts. Females tend to have increased femoral anteversion, less vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) development, and increased flexibility and differences in notch shape and width, compared to males. The female knee and ACL tend to be smaller than the male (11:290-291).
The ACL is a crucial ligament due to the crossed arrangement of the anterior and posterior ligaments within the knee. Its structure is an important contribution to the knee joint function. ACL is a band of regularly oriented, dense connective tissue which connects the femur and tibia. There is a mesentery-like fold of synovium which starts from the posterior intercondylar area and envelops both ACLs and posterior cruciate ligaments (PCLs). Cruciate ligaments are intraarticular and extrasynovial (4:132).
The ACL is attached to a fossa on the posterior aspect of the medial surface of the lateral femoral condyle. The femoral attachment is a segment of a circle with a straight anterior border and a convex posterior border. The long axis of the femoral attac...