A torn ligament in the knee is an often irreversible injury to the passive ligament apparatus, which usually occurs in sports. For a better understanding, a brief insight into the anatomy and function: The knee is the largest joint in our body. Joints are the connections between different bones, which serve to make our bony skeleton mobile.
The knee joint is composed of the thigh bone (in Latin, the femur), the upper end of the tibia (tibia) and the kneecap (patella). The latter serves to protect the joint and to relieve muscle work by extending the effective lever arm. The knee is thus composed of three bones, together enclosed by a joint capsule. Since our human locomotion has developed over time into an upright bipedal gait (on two feet), our knee joints are exposed to extreme stress. Movements such as jumping, running or rapid changes of direction increase the stress on the joint enormously.
Definition
In order for the knee joint to withstand extreme loads and ensure stability, the above-mentioned joint-forming bones must be held together. For this purpose, there is an active system consisting of surrounding musculature and a passive system, the ligamentous apparatus. The ligamentous apparatus consists of various ligaments, each of which has a specific function, so that a ligament is tensed in every movement position.
Important ligaments discussed in this article are the cruciate ligaments (Ligg. Cruciata) and the collateral ligaments (Ligg. Collateralia).
If the stability system of our knee is now overstrained, these ligaments can tear. A torn ligament is the complete severing of the structure caused by an injury. The preliminary stage of a tear is the strain or a partial tear. These articles may be of interest to you:
- Strain of a muscle
- Muscle Strain
Causes
A torn ligament in the knee can have various causes. If, for example, the active system is too weak and the muscles are not sufficiently developed, the passive system has to do more work, for which the ligaments are not suitable in the long term. Constant overstraining weakens their function until an injury, a strain or even a tear occurs.
This also applies to a malposition of the leg axes. Furthermore, the cause can be an injury, a large external force or a strong wrong movement. Since the various ligaments are tensioned in different positions, there are also different injury mechanisms.
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