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By Mayo Clinic staffLigaments are strong bands of tissue that attach bone to bone. Your ACL is situated in the center of your knee joint, attaching your thighbone (femur) to your shinbone (tibia). The ligament keeps your shinbone in place, which stabilizes your knee and keeps it from buckling, especially during quick changes of direction.
Not everyone who tears an ACL requires ACL reconstruction. Depending on your age and activity level, you may consider surgery if:
- You have persistent knee pain
- You're young and active
- The injury is causing your knee to become unstable (buckle) during everyday activities, such as stair climbing
- More than one ligament or the cartilage in your knee (meniscus) is injured
- You're an athlete and want to continue in your sport, especially if the sport involves jumping, cutting or pivoting
- Clark JC, et al. Primary ACL reconstruction using allograft tissue. Clinical Sports Medicine. 2009;28:223.
- Anterior cruciate ligament injuries. In: Canale ST: Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2007:2496.
- Muscle and tendon injuries. In: Brunicardi FC, et al. Schwartz's Principles of Surgery. 8th ed. Columbus, Ohio.: McGraw-Hill; 2005. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=820647. Accessed Sept. 30, 2009.
- Fu F, et al. Current trends in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction part 1: Biology and biomechanics of reconstruction. American Journal of Sports Medicine. 1999;27:821.
- ACL injury: Does it require surgery? American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00297. Accessed Oct. 1, 2009.
- Friedberg RP. Anterior cruciate ligament injury. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct.1, 2009.
- Spindler KP, et al. Anterior cruciate ligament tear. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359:2135.
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