Cruciate ligament rupture

The typical injury pattern for anterior cruciate ligament injuries is twisting of the knee joint. The injury pattern for the much rarer injury to the posterior cruciate ligament is a hyperextension injury due to compression or impact trauma from the dashboard in a traffic accident.

2/3 of all patients feel a tearing sensation in the joint after the injury. In most cases, severe swelling and effusion occur in the knee joint within a day, often accompanied by severe pain at night due to tension in the joint capsule. Older injuries are characterized by a feeling of instability, especially during rapid rotational movements.

Both ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament and ruptures of the posterior cruciate ligament cause a massive mechanical problem in the knee joint. If left untreated, this regularly leads to an unphysiological load and thus often to severe arthrosis in the joint. For this reason, arthroscopic arthroplasty of the anterior cruciate ligament or arthroplasty of the posterior cruciate ligament is the treatment of choice. Conservative treatment is only used for cruciate ligament injuries in the elderly or in cases of concomitant advanced osteoarthritis.