Collateral Ligaments and other non-cruciate tendons & ligaments around the knee :

Collateral Damage! - - Posted by fastfrank (fastfrank), 8 April 2004

Hi All,

I'm a newbie... I nee some advice.

Been to see my conultant this evening with regards to my persistant right knee problem since my motorcycle accident (not my fault i might add).

Apparantley I've completely snapped my Fibular Collateral ligament and one underneath my knee but don't know its name.  Its fine to walk on, its only when I try to fully bend it when I have the discomfort.

He told me it was a serious injury and might need some sugery to reconstruct the ligament but for the moment I'm going to have some physio to stabilise the joint.

How serious do you peeps consider this injury. Is sugery successful? Will I need a brace for the rest of my life?

Comments appreciated.

Frank
Posted by Beauzer (Beauzer), 9 April 2004

Hi Frank,

The fibular collateral ligament is also called the LCL (lateral collateral ligament, that is).  The other one, could it possibly be the PCL?  A lot of times the LCL one will heal on its own.  More recently though, with Grade III (complete) LCL tears, there has been a push to reconstruct them, because they often also tear the posteriolateral joint capsule which can cause ongoing instability problems.  Unfortunately, that's about all I can tell you,

good luck,
Danielle
Posted by fastfrank (fastfrank), 10 April 2004

Hi Danielle,
Thanks for the reply.

I've been told my 'LCL' won't heal because it has completely snapped. How do they reconstruct the tendon with an operation. Do they transplant tendon material from a different part of the body?

PS. How come you peeps on here know so much about knee etc. Are you all doctors?

Cheers
Frank
Posted by Beauzer (Beauzer), 10 April 2004

Hi Frank,

With "big" ligaments like an ACL, they usually take a tendon (hamstring or a piece of patellar tendon) from you and use it to make a new ligament.  Some OS use allograft (tendon from a cadaver) instead.  

Sometimes with the collateral ligaments (MCL and LCL) they can actually sew them back together, rather than reconstructing them, but it depends on the injury and your OS's judgment at the time of surgery.

The folks on these boards are people from all walks of life, who happen to have experience with knees!  Funny you should ask, as I actually am an MD (not an OS though).  I just happen to have a whole lot of experience with many different aspects of knee injury, surgery and rehab (as evidenced by my laundry list of knee stuff listed at the bottom of my posts!)

Cheers!
Danielle
Posted by fastfrank (fastfrank), 11 April 2004

Hi Danielle,

Thanks for the reply.

WOW... is that a list of whats been wrong with your knees or what you've fixed. Sorry for my ignorance.

What does MD mean by the way (... doctor?).

Hey, maybe the chap who examined my knee reads this forum too!

Cheers
Frank
Posted by Beauzer (Beauzer), 11 April 2004

Uh, the list is what's been fixed (well, it's a partial list anyway, not everything would fit ).  Had 6 surgeries.  Need a TKR.  And yeah, MD=doc.  I think this is a great forum.

Best of luck,
Danielle

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