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The ACL : Causes And Function Of The Functional Approach

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The ACL extends posteriorly and laterally from a point anterior to the intercondylar area of the tibia to the posterior part of the medial surface of the lateral condyle of the femur (Tortora, 2009). In layman's terms, it extends diagonally in the middle of the knee joint connecting the shin and thighbones. The ACL is a complex structure that has an irregular nature. It has a multi vesicular structure that had been ignored for many years as it was originally thought to function as a simple band of fibers with constant tension as the knee moves. Multiple collagen bundles lead to the multivesicular nature of the ACL (Arnoczky, 1983). There are three functional bundles that make up the ACL; the anteromedial, intermediate, and posterolateral. …show more content…

A test on the functional anatomy of the ACL by Amis showed that the different functional bundles of the ACL contribute to resisting anterior subluxation of the knee during flexion and extension. The ACL also plays a role in stabilization against rotatory loads (Petersen, 2006). Rotary loads occur in the knee when a force causes the turning of the tibia and/or femur inward or outward. Due to the connection of the ACL to both of these bones, it aids in stabilizing them and preventing their sliding (Tortora, 2009)
Increase it tears
INCREASE IN TEARS Anterior cruciate ligament injuries are receiving a great deal of notice because of the incidence of injury that occurs not only in the athletic population but also in those individuals who are recreationally active (Russell, 2006). Each year in the United States there are approximately 250,000 ACL injuries. This is approximately 1 in 3,000 in the general population (Boden, 2000). Of these injuries, about 175,000 require reconstructive surgery. These surgeries had an estimated cost of over two billion dollars annually in the United States (Yu, 2007). These statistics alone make it obvious that this injury occurs very often. The ACL is one of the most commonly disrupted ligaments in the knee. While the prevalence of the injury has increased, so has the number of athletes in the world since ACL injury research first began. Women are now allowed to participate in sports and new sports are being participated in

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