Our fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons at New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine are experts in the identification and treatment of ACL-injured patients.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the main ligaments inside your knee. It connects your thigh bone (femur) to your shin bone (tibia) and keeps the knee stable when you turn, pivot, slow down quickly, or land from a jump. When the ACL tears, the knee can feel loose or "give way."
Most ACL tears happen during sports such as basketball, football, soccer, and skiing — often without any contact with another player, during a sudden stop, cut, or awkward landing.
Many people notice these at the time of injury or soon after:
ACL tears often occur along with other knee injuries, such as tears of the meniscus (the knee's cushioning cartilage) or damage to other ligaments or the joint surface. Your doctor may order imaging studies such as x-ray and MRI to evaluate the ACL and the other structures in the knee.
There is no single "right" answer for everyone. The best choice depends on your age, activity level, the sports or activities you want to return to, whether other parts of the knee are also injured, and your own goals. This is a shared decision to make with your clinician.
This focuses on structured, progressive physical therapy to restore motion, strength, and control of the knee. A typical program includes:
Non-surgical care is often a good option for people who are less active or who want to return to straight-line activities (jogging, cycling, swimming) rather than sports that require pivoting and cutting. Some people — sometimes called "copers" — regain a stable knee with rehab alone. Importantly, knee braces alone do not restore stability and may not prevent the knee from giving way.
If instability continues despite a good rehab effort, surgery can still be considered later.
Because a torn ACL usually does not heal back together, surgery does not simply stitch it. Instead, the surgeon reconstructs the ligament using a graft (a piece of tendon) that is passed through small tunnels drilled in the bone. This is typically done arthroscopically (through small incisions with a camera).
Graft choices include:
Surgery is often recommended for younger, active people who want to return to pivoting or cutting sports, or when there is other repairable damage (such as a meniscus tear). Reconstruction is usually done once swelling has gone down and the knee has regained its full range of motion. Physical therapy afterward is essential and typically takes many months.
Compared with non-surgical care, reconstruction has been shown to lower the chance of later meniscus tears and additional knee surgeries and to help people return to a higher activity level.
To visit with our ACL and knee pain experts, please contact New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine today in New Braunfels, Texas. Call the office at 830-341-1386 or request an appointment online.
