Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about anterior cruciate ligament injury.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash ACL injury or in in the orthopedic section of the 0-2-finals

surgery book. So let's get straight into it. Injury to either the anterior cruciate ligament,

the ACL, or the posterior cruciate ligament, the PCL, can cause instability in the knee.

Damage to the ACL is common, particularly among athletes.

PCL injuries are less common.

Let's talk about the basic anatomy.

At the top of the tibia, there are the medial and lateral condiles,

which are slightly convex surfaces that correspond to the

condiles of the femur. Between the condiles, there is an intercondola area. The cruciate

ligaments are named after where they attach to the tibia. The ACL, or the anterior cruciate ligament attaches to the anterior intercondola area on the tibia.

The PCL or the posterior cruciate ligament attaches to the posterior intercondola area on the tibia.

There are rounded areas of bone at the end of the femur which are also called condiles.

At the back of the distal end of the femur is the intercondular notch, which is a groove between

the two condiles of the femur. Both cruciate ligaments originate from the intercondular notch

on the femur,

the ACL on the lateral aspect, and the PCL on the medial aspect.

The anterior cruciate ligament stops the tibia from sliding forwards in relation to the femur.

The posterior cruciate ligament stops the tibia sliding backwards in relation to the femur. The posterior cruciate ligament stops the tibia sliding backwards in relation to the

femur. Let's talk about the presentation. The anterior cruciate ligament is typically damaged during

a twisting injury to the knee. The injury causes pain, swelling and a pop sound or a pop sensation.

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