A Clinical Study on Ligamentous Injuries of the Knee Joints

It has been well known that the knee joint is burdened on motion and weight bearing and structurally, it is more frequently injured than other joints. And ligamentous injuries of the knee joint are frequent, because of the increasing traffics and popularity of sports.

In seems to be important to understand on the mechanism of injury, method of physical examination and treatment of the ligamentous injuries of the knee.

The purpose of this paper is to get accurate diagnosis and proper treatment. Sixty-four cases of ligamentous injuries in patients who were admitted and treated at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery of Ewha Womans University Hospital from March 1989 to February 1992 have been reviewed.

The results of this study were as follows :

1) The ligamentous injuries of the knee were more prevalent in male 2.2 times than female. and frequently occured in second to third decades(65.6%).

2) Traffic accident was the most common causes, and the most frequent associated injuries were fractures.

3) The most frequently ruptured ligment was medial collateral ligament and its most common site of rupture was femolar attachment.

4) Frequently, lateral collateral ligament was detached from the femoral attachment, anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments were ruptured through their substances.

5) There were twelve cases of isolated cruciate ligament injury, four cases were posterior and others were anterior.

6) Excellent or good result was obtained in most cases by both operative and nonoperative treatment.