The knee is the largest joint in your body and one of the most complex. It is also vital to movement.
Your knee ligaments connect your thighbone to your lower leg bones. Knee ligament sprains or tears are a common sports injury.
In the past, injuring more than one knee ligament would put an end to future sports activities. Today, many athletes are able to return to high level sports following multiple ligament injuries.
Description
Normal knee anatomy. The knee is made up of four main things: bones, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.
The MCL is injured more often than the LCL. Due to the more complex anatomy of the outside of the knee, if you injure your LCL, you usually injure other structures in the joint, as well.
Treatment
The individual with a suspected multiple ligament injury needs a thorough examination by an experienced physician. Depending on the injury, the orthopaedic surgeon may call in other specialists such as a vascular surgeon or microsurgeon.
In contrast to treatment for single ligament tears, surgery for combined ligament tears is often performed soon after the injury. This is done even though early surgery — before inflammation has resolved — poses an increased risk of arthrofibrosis (a scar forming in the joint). More than one operation may be required when treating multiple ligament injuries.
Outcome
Results from multiple ligament surgery are not as consistent as single ligament injury.
In the past, a multiple ligament injury prevented people from returning to sports activities. Today, it is possible to return to high level sports, although there is no certainty of it.
Tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (left) can occur along with injuries to the medial collateral ligament (right).