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The Knee - Composition
The knee is one of the major joints of the human body. It is called a hinge joint. The knee consists of three main bones:
- The femur –the bone on the upper part of the leg
- The tibia or the bone on the lower part of the leg
- The patella or the knee cap
The knee has a smooth outer layer called the cartilage which allows the knee bones to move smoothly over each other. In arthritis, this gets damaged. Ligaments are strong, dense structures made of connective tissue that stabilize a joint. They connect two bones across the joint. The knee has four important ligaments which are cross shaped. Ligaments are tissues which bind the knee together. These ligaments bind the joints in the knee. The anterior cruciate ligament is one of these four significant ligaments of the knee. It is found on each side of the knee. The name anterior cruciate ligament comes from the Latin word “crux” which means “cross”. So cruciate means cross shaped. As the ligament is cross shaped, it is called a cruciate ligament.
Thus the anterior cruciate ligament is a ligament that passes over below the thigh bone or femur and over the tibia which is the other bone in the knee. Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament are normally caused when the individual takes part in sports .At times, the injury could be very serious and takes a long time to recover. This condition then is treated only with a surgery.
Functions Of The Anterior Cruciate Ligament
The major functions of this ligament are to give the knee a stable structure and reduce the stress along the joint, besides controlling the basic movements. This ligament originates away from the centre of the femur bone. The anterior cruciate ligament is made up of:
- The anteromedial ligament
- The posterolateral ligament
- The anteromedial ligament as the very name indicates is situated in the front and towards the inner side.
The posterolateral ligament is situated on the side on the posterior part.
The tibia bone has a flat base where these cruciate ligaments enter. The anterior cruciate ligament is attached to the front of the round shaped projections in the tibia. These join the end structure of the meniscus on the sides.
It has been seen that any injury to the anterior cruciate ligament is the most common knee injury. This happens especially in sports persons. There is a lot of motion to the sides in these athletes and thus the muscles cause a strain and the ligaments tear. When the ligament is stretched beyond capacity then it tears. A tear always calls for surgical intervention. But ligament strains are cured by subjecting the area to a lot of physical therapy and strengthening the muscles there. Arthroscopy is a process by which anterior cruciate ligament injuries are taken care of. During such a surgical treatment, the tendons in the legs are used to treat it. Tendons from hamstring or cadavers are used to create a new functioning anterior cruciate ligament.
It has been seen that even children have problems of the anterior cruciate ligament.Sometimes the injuries in children are a challenge. This is because the children normally have growth areas which are open in the base of the thigh bone.This thigh bone is called the femur.This results in the legs having a dwarfed growth. In such a condition, the leg grows at an oblique inclination.After the injury, therefore, when children get back to routine schedule, they find that they are getting instable.This leads to the meniscus on the sides tearing and also damages the cartilage on the bone edges.It takes a minimum of three months for any knee injury to recover.This convalescence period includes reducing any other related injuries.
There are cases where the patient faces a knee buckle or where there is a tear.Under such circumstances, the therapy and the cure is done without any operation. The athletes and sportspeople find it a big problem when there is an anterior cruciate ligament injury.There are patients who are a part of a sport which has a lot of twisting and pivoting around the knee.People with an anterior cruciate ligament injury need to take care that they don’t invite any more injuries as this would hamper the healing process of the initial injury.Lifestyles have to be changed as per the requirements of the knee. Work pattern, postures, have to be changed.Sudden jerks and jerky change of positions should be avoided.Care should be taken.
