ACL Tear
ACL stands for the anterior cruciate ligament, and tearing this ligament is one of the most common types of injury to the knee. The ACL in your knee can tear during intense sporting activities and cause a painful buckling of the joint. When the ACL tears, you may hear a popping noise and feel your leg give way. Your knee hurts and starts to swell, and you may feel instability in the joint that affects your movement and range of motion.
What causes an ACL tear?
ACL tears arise when the anterior cruciate ligament suffers injury as a result of:
- A rapid change of direction
- Pulling up suddenly
- Slowing down suddenly
- Landing poorly following a jump
- A collision such as a football tackle
- Your knee is a complex collection of bones, ligaments, and tendons. The anterior cruciate ligament is at the front of your knee on the inside, helping to control movements forward and backward.
Sprained ligaments may stretch to an extent where they partially tear so the knee joint is loose, or tear completely so the knee joint is unstable. On most occasions, ACL injuries are complete tears.
How is an ACL tear diagnosed and treated?
We will examine your knee and compares it with your uninjured limb. In most cases, we can diagnose an ACL tear from this examination, but we may order additional imaging tests such as X-rays to check for any broken bones.
Treatment for an ACL tear is likely to involve surgery, as a torn ACL can’t heal without surgical intervention. Some patients who are elderly or not very active may benefit from nonsurgical treatments such as bracing and physical therapy if the knee isn’t unstable. Younger patients and people who are physically active need to have the ACL rebuilt surgically, as it’s not possible to repair most ACL tears. Surgery involves replacing the damaged ligament with a graft taken from another part of your body, or a donated graft.
Our doctors will carry out the surgery using an arthroscope, which is less invasive than open surgery and results in less tissue damage and faster healing times. Even so, it takes at least six months for the knee to heal sufficiently for you to return to your normal activities.
