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Cruciate - how ACL is injured

Submitted by admin on March 13, 2008 - 8:25pm.

 

Image showing non-contact stress

The ACL can be torn when the tibia is stressed suddenly in relation to the femur.

It is the most commonly injured of all the major knee ligaments. Usually the ligament is injured without contact with another player, eg running and cutting to the same side, landing on one foot while the body is still twisting (non-contact injury), or in situations where -

  • the body is forward flexed
  • the hip is abducted ('legs apart')
  • the knee is internally or externally rotated with valgus ('stressed from the outer side')
  • the foot is pronated ('rolled over')

In this YouTube video, Michael Owen of the UK suffers a rupture of his right cruciate ligament (2006) -

 

 

Hyperextension contact injury

Less frequently, the ACL is injured in a contact injury. Here you can see two types of contact injury - both of which can injure the ACL. On the left the knee is forcibly hyper-extended, and on the right the knee is forcibly hyper-flexed.

Hyperflexion contact injury

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