Download Injuries of the Knee

Injuries of the Knee
• Left knee
from
behind
• There are five ligaments in the knee that help connect
the femur to the tibia and keep your legs stable:
– Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL)
• connects your femur to your tibia
• inside of your knee; Keeps inside of knee stable
-
Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL)
• connects your femur to your tibia
• outside of your knee; keeps outer part of knee stable
– Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)
• connects your femur to your tibia
• at the center of the knee; helps control forward motion and rotation
– Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL)
• connects your femur to your tibia
• At the back of the knee; helps control the knee's backward motion
– Ligament of Wrisberg
• Right behind the attachment of the posterior cruciate ligament
• This ligament does nothing important
Main types of Injuries
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Sprains
Strains
Mensical Tears
Fractures and Dislocations
Cartilage Injuries
• Common causes of injuries include
overuse, sudden stops and twists, or a
direct blow to the knee
• SPRAINS
– A stretched or torn ligament
– Common sprains usually involve damage to
the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and/or
medial collateral ligament (MCL)
• The ACL is the smallest
ligament in the knee
• connects the femur to the tibia
at the center of knee
• When the tibia and femur
rotate too far in opposite
directions/when the knee is
bent in the wrong direction -the ACL can be torn or
sprained.
• Often when damaging the ACL
there will be damage to other
ligaments such as the Medial
Collateral ligament (MCL)
• Symptoms of ACL injuries
– Popping; swelling; hard to walk on
– Feeling as though your knee will give out/buckle or
even bend backwards
• Causes and risk factors
– Quick changes in direction while running cause most
ACL injuries
– Girls who play sports are up to four times more likely
to injure their ACL than male athletes
• The medial collateral
ligament extends from the
end of the femur (thigh
bone) to the top of the
tibia (shin bone) and is on
the inside of the knee
joint. The MCL prevents
"opening-up" of the knee.
Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL)
INJURIES
• Usually injured outside of the knee is
struck
• This causes the outside of the knee to
buckle, and the inside to “open up”.
• Can be torn/injured if stretched too far
• Sometimes tearing of other ligaments such
as the ACL occurs along with the injury of
the MCL
• SYMPTOMS of MCL injuries
– Pain and swelling over ligament ; bruising and
generalized joint swelling are common 1 to 2
days after the injury.
– In worse injuries, knee may feel unstable, or
feel as though it may 'give out' or buckle.
– MCL injuries are graded on a scale of 1-3
• Grade 1 MCL Tear
– incomplete tear of the MCL.
– symptoms are usually minimal.
– usually pain with pressure on the MCL
– may be able to return very quickly. May be out miss 1-2 weeks
• Grade 2 MCL Tear
– also considered incomplete tears of the MCL.
– May have instability when attempting to cut or pivot.
– pain and swelling is worse,
– usually a period of 3-4 weeks of rest is necessary
• Grade 3 MCL Tear
– a complete tear of the MCL.
– Patients have significant pain and swelling, difficulty bending the
knee. Instability, or giving out, is common
– A knee brace or a knee immobilizer is usually needed for comfort
– healing may take 6 weeks or longer
• The collateral
ligaments are
damaged by a direct contact blow on the
side of the knee while the foot
is 'planted' on the ground. This
forces the joint to bend
sideways and tears the
ligament on the opposite side;
landing badly from a jump so
that the knee is forced
sideways by the weight of the
body.
• Strains are a complete/partial tear of a muscle or
tendon. Symptoms are similar to sprains and
bruises may appear.
• Tendonitis happens because of overuse and is
when a tendons get inflamed or irritated.
Tendonitis usually involves pain and tenderness
when walking, bending a leg, and/or
extending/lifting a leg
• Meniscal Tears is very common in sports. A
sudden change in speed or side-to-side
movement causes the Meniscal to tear. This tear
often occurs along with sprains, especially those
sprains involving the ACL. These injuries can
cause tenderness, tightness and swelling in the
front of the knee. Fluid sometimes collects
around the knee (Effusion)
• Fractures and Dislocations
– Cracked, broken, or shattered bone
– Involves a lot of pain
– Trouble moving bone
• Patellar dislocation happens when the patella (Knee cap) is knocked
off to the side of the knee by being twisted or some other type of
impact
• Cartilage Injuries
– a small piece of bone or cartilage softens or breaks off from the end of a
bone cause long-term knee pain this is called Osteochondritis dessicans
(OCD)
– Chondromalacia happens when the cartilage in the knee softens
because of injury, muscle weakness, or overuse and the patella and the
thighbone may rub together.
Unhappy triad of O'Donoghue
• The combination of a medial collateral
ligament (MCL) tear, with tears of the
meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL) is called 'the unhappy triad'.
• Very common in football
Preventing Knee Injuries
• Preventions include:
– wearing appropriate protective equipment during
practices, games, competitions, ect.
– Wearing supportive shoes that appropriate for your
sport
– Always remember to work up your training level
slowly; increasing duration or intensity of workouts
can lead to overuse injuries
– Weightlifting can help to strengthen your muscles and
prevent injuries
– Yoga/stretching can improve your flexibility