Anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Evaluation, arthroscopic reconstruction, and rehabilitation.

The advantages of arthroscopic reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament tear over arthrotomy are quite obvious: reduced pain and morbidity. Some arthroscopists are performing these procedures on an outpatient basis. The physician can choose from several graft substitutes for anterior cruciate ligament replacement. Autografts consisting of the iliotibial band, semitendinosus, gracilis, and meniscus have been used as grafts. The most common autograft is the bone-patellar tendon-bone, which has been used since 1930 and has been shown to have a tensile strength near that of the anterior cruciate ligament. The state of the art in surgical alternatives for anterior cruciate ligament tears is arthroscopic reconstruction using the midthird of the patellar tendon. Treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injuries requires prompt and adequate evaluation of the laxity of the ligament as well as other structures in the knee, appropriate treatment options offered to the patient with complete descriptions of knee function after each treatment option, and comprehensive rehabilitation program. Patient compliance is an integral part of the success of this procedure. The nurse must include a description of the injury, preoperative testing, surgical intervention, and rehabilitation program when educating the patient. The successful postoperative anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation program is multifaceted. In general, there must be specific guidelines applied by a physical therapist who has knowledge of the surgical procedure, understands principles of ligament healing, and has the ability to individualize the program as needed. For any level of athlete or active person, there must be achievement of all goals per phase to a high performance level. In addition, there must always be objective measurements to document progress to the physical therapist and physician but, perhaps most importantly, to reassure the patient that normalcy is being restored.