Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

The anterior cruciate ligament, acl is a ligament in your knee. the ACL is usuatty torm  or damaged as a result of a quick deceleration, hyperextension or rotational injury.  This typy of injury usually accour with a sudden change of direction. A person who has an ACL injury usually feels a popping sensation. In a car accident this type of injury occurs uasally when the knee is slamed into the door or center counsel after the impact.  This type of injury is found in T-Bone type crashes.

The ACL is one of the most common injured ligaments in the knee.  The normal ACl injury or tear is a result of a sport injury such as football, basketball and soccer.  The ACL tears are also commonly associated with car accidents. It is reported that there are about 200,000 ACL injuries annually and about 100,000 ACL reconstructive surgeries done each year.

If you are in a car accident an your knee collided with the inside of the car door and you heard or felt a pop, your knee is swollen, you have less than full range of motion and it hurts to walk, then there is a good chance you an ACL injury.  Usually an MRI of the knee is taken to confirm the ACL tear diagnosis.  If a person is diagnosed with an ACL tear the normal course of treatment is surgery, or if the person is older and leads a sedentary life then conservative treatment like physical therapy is done to strengthen the muscles around the knee. the non surgical option usually takes four months.

The recovery time after surgery varies by each person.