Knee soft tissue injuries Flashcards
what are examples of traumatic knee injuries?
- ACL
- PCL
- MCL
- PLC (post lateral corner)
- meniscus
what are the roles or functions of the ACL?
- primary stabiliser of the knee
- controls medial rotation of the tibia on the femur
- resists anterior movement of the tibia on the femur
- aids to restrict hyperextension of the knee
- guides the knee locking mechanism
what is an ACL injury classified into?
- partial or complete tear
- the ACL is designed to withstand a certain level of force - if the threshold is met the ligament can rupture
what is epidemiology?
how often diseases or conditions occur in different groups of people and why
what are 5 variables that predict return to sport after an acl injury?
- age at injury
- competitive athlete status
- time of surgery
- cartilage surgery
- cartilage lesion - damage to cartilage tissue
how do ACL injuries happen?
1.** non contact-** changiung direction rapidly, landing after a jump, deceleration
2. contact - tackles, collisions, direct blow to the knee
what other structures can an ACL tear occur in association with & what term describes this?
- medial collateral ligament
- medial meniscus
- called the uphappy triad
what are the** intrinsic risk factors** for acl injury?
intrinsic - factors about us
- age
- high BMI
- gender - female more likely
- ethnicity- white more likely
- anatomy - variation?
- previous acl injury
what are examples of modifiable risk factors for ACL injury?
- high BMI
- poor fitness ;level
- reduced hip strength
- neuromuscular control
- biomechanics - faulty
what are the signs & symptoms of ACL injury?
- patient describes a pop or crack at the time of injury
- unable to continue playing on
- able to walk after - if complete tear- nociceptors have been disrupted and person cant feel pain as much
- larger amount of swelling within hours
- haemarthrosis - bleeding in the joint
what would be signs of ACL injury during subjective exam?
- if patient says they are in pain and knee is swollen
- if patient has difficulty moving knee
- if the patient has a event or MOI in patients medical history
- if the patient describes the knee as a feeling of ‘giving way’
what might you notice in a physical examination of someone with an ACL injury?
- haemarthrosis - bleeding in a joint
- reduced ROM of knee
- antalgic gait (abnormal shortened stance phase as they dont want to place weight on injured leg)
- positive stability tests eg anterior drawer test and lachman’s test
what stability test is the most sensitive and specific test for ACL & what signifies a positive test?
Lachmans test
* positive - lack of end feel and anterior movement of tibia on femur
on physical examination of a patient with a suspected ACL injury, should you do a posterior or anterior drawer test first?
- posterior drawer test first always !
- As we want the knee to be in neutral
why are females more likely to tear their ACLs?
- different biomechanics
- anatomical hormonal differences
- difference in neuromuscular control
how do the greatest ACL strains occur?
- combined loading pattern - frontal and transverse plane movements with anterior tibial shear (force)