Breakthrough on ACL Injuries- anterolateral ligament (ALL)

[NM Duke Fan]

This is some amazing research, and it will likely be of significant importance for basketball in general.

"Despite successful ACL repair surgery and rehabilitation, some patients with ACL-repaired knees continue to experience so-called 'pivot shift', or episodes where the knee 'gives way' during activity. For the last four years, orthopaedic surgeons Dr Steven Claes and Professor Dr Johan Bellemans have been conducting research into serious ACL injuries in an effort to find out why. Their starting point: an 1879 article by a French surgeon that postulated the existence of an additional ligament located on the anterior of the human knee.

That postulation turned out to be correct: the Belgian doctors are the first to provide a full anatomical description of the ligament after a broad cadaver study using macroscopic dissection techniques. Their research shows that the ligament, called the anterolateral ligament (ALL), was noted to be present in all but one of the 41 cadaveric knees studied. Subsequent research shows that pivot shift, the giving way of the knee in patients with an ACL tear, is caused by an injury in the ALL ligament."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131105081352.htm

[MCFinARL]

This is some amazing research, and it will likely be of significant importance for basketball in general.

"Despite successful ACL repair surgery and rehabilitation, some patients with ACL-repaired knees continue to experience so-called 'pivot shift', or episodes where the knee 'gives way' during activity. For the last four years, orthopaedic surgeons Dr Steven Claes and Professor Dr Johan Bellemans have been conducting research into serious ACL injuries in an effort to find out why. Their starting point: an 1879 article by a French surgeon that postulated the existence of an additional ligament located on the anterior of the human knee.

That postulation turned out to be correct: the Belgian doctors are the first to provide a full anatomical description of the ligament after a broad cadaver study using macroscopic dissection techniques. Their research shows that the ligament, called the anterolateral ligament (ALL), was noted to be present in all but one of the 41 cadaveric knees studied. Subsequent research shows that pivot shift, the giving way of the knee in patients with an ACL tear, is caused by an injury in the ALL ligament."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131105081352.htm

Wow. It's stupefying to thing that doctors and scientists could have been unaware of a knee ligament.

[Orange&BlackSheep]

Really? Really?? Just shows that even stuff you *think* we know sometimes falls into the "don't know" category.

Incredible to hear about this just as Derrick Rose reinjures himself.

[weezie]

As a serious knee injury sufferer, and as a person waiting for knee replacement, this whole thread makes me ache.

Hope it all means better news for future generations...

[dukelifer]

Wow. It's stupefying to thing that doctors and scientists could have been unaware of a knee ligament.

Actually this was discovered 150 years ago but its function was not understood. The latest work appears to ascribe a role to the ALL for assisting stability in the knee of patients who have had ACL repair.

[Indoor66]

I want a breakthrough on meniscus repairs as well. Not every problem is anterior. :cool:

[bbq-devil]

I literally feel your pain. I have surgery scheduled in December to repair/remove a torn meniscus.

[jv001]

I literally feel your pain. I have surgery scheduled in December to repair/remove a torn meniscus.

Feb 2012..left meniscus repaired. Feb 2013...right meniscus repaired. My left knee got back close to 100% by May, 2013. My right knee is well enough to play golf one day a week and practice 2 times a week. I suggest you listen to your surgeon and rehab like crazy. God bless you on your surgery and rehab. GoDuke!

[Indoor66]

I literally feel your pain. I have surgery scheduled in December to repair/remove a torn meniscus.

I was 9/11 & 9/13! That said, it feels great now. Good luck and be sure to do all of the rehab.

[bbq-devil]

Thanks for all the well wishes. I believe I will end up with a partial meniscus removal due to the type and location of the tear. Doctor says it is a shorter recovery than a repair.

So much for the Disney marathon I was training for in January.

Good news is more time to watch Duke football play on New Years Day!

[luburch]

I completely tore my ACL three years ago and had a partial tear in my meniscus three years ago and my knee hasn't been the same since. I hope this news can help others going forward.

[Dev11]

Despite successful ACL repair surgery and rehabilitation, some patients with ACL-repaired knees continue to experience so-called 'pivot shift', or episodes where the knee 'gives way' during activity.

I had my right ACL and meniscus repaired in 2008 and get this sensation from time to time. Usually it is caused by throwing a ball; the whipping motion of the non-planted leg makes it pop. It's a very painful minute or so and then I can go back to normal activity. I don't begrudge the folks at Duke Hospital or at Duke Sports Medicine who put me back together.

[CurvyinCollingwood]

I want a breakthrough on meniscus repairs as well. Not every problem is anterior. :cool:

There is a proven therapy that can heal most meniscus tears. It is called blood flow stimulation therapy. It is electromagnetic therapy that stimulates the blood flow to an injured area ( in this case your knee) in order to help it heal while you are resting it.

If you do a google search, you can find out more information on the type of therapy.

[Indoor66]

There is a proven therapy that can heal most meniscus tears. It is called blood flow stimulation therapy. It is electromagnetic therapy that stimulates the blood flow to an injured area ( in this case your knee) in order to help it heal while you are resting it.

If you do a google search, you can find out more information on the type of therapy.

Thanks for the info. In fact, I have continued electro stimulation while watching TV. Watching muscles twitch is often superior entertainment than that found on the Tube!

[greybeard]

Wow. It's stupefying to thing that doctors and scientists could have been unaware of a knee ligament.

I'm pretty skeptical about all of this, most significantly the one thing that science has yet to address, even if (1) the existence of ALL is shown to have function and (2) somehow has something significant to say about knee stability during weight shift. This article does little to show what the science, if any, supports either premise. Then there becomes the little problem of doing something about it that will make ripped up knees that are unstable after surgery "all better."

True story: scientists were interested how these very tiny birds that live on the West Coast, the females that is, chose the guy birds with whom they would consent to, you know, get it on with. Two scientists got it in their minds that it had to do with tail feathers. Yes, your ears read this right. Girl birds chose guys who got what we in Brooklyn used to call an Italian Cut in the back, straight across. Now, if these scientists grew up in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, I could understand the bias, because the guys with the thick black hair such that how you cut the back made a whit of difference seemed to "get" more than their fair share.

Back to the story. These two scientists then watched the birds mate and, who knows how, were able to isolate out those who got some from those who didn't, get their tail feathers under a microscope, and prove that their "hypothesis" was correct (how male whatever the name of this bird is lost their lives in the name of science, no one knows). Anyway, their scientific breakthrough received far acclaim, presumably among the small group of scientists who were beyond the kinky side, if you know what it means. The only problem with all of this, is that it just ain't so. For reasons only known to the divine, a group of modern day scientists ended up killing scores more of these male birds and discovered that the ones selected for mating had uneven tail feathers.

Okay, Grey, we give up? What does this have to do with ALLs? Well, for one, we should all be happy that they don't have to kill you first before they find out if you have one of those and have an unstable knee after ACL repair. However, I don't know how sanguine we should all feel; the sample pool studied was, after all, pretty darn small.

Too much Turkey, I guess.