Multi-Ligament Knee Injuries
What is multi-ligament knee Injury?
Multiple ligament knee injuries happen when more than one of the knee’s ligaments is torn. They are less common than single ligament injuries.
What causes Multi-Ligament Knee Injury?
Multiple ligament knee injuries can occur during sports activities or through high-energy trauma, such as a fall from height or a car accident.
How Multi-ligament knee Injury diagnosed?
The most important way to initially diagnose these injuries is to review a thorough history with the patient to recall that their knee felt that it dislocated and slipped back in. It’s important to determine if this was solely their kneecap joint where there was a patellar (kneecap) dislocation or if it was the complete knee joint itself slipping out of place.
These injuries are very severe and potentially limb and life threatening. Thus, assessing for this and insuring that the patient’s knee function is intact, including both the status of the pulses to ensure that the artery is not injured as well as their sensation to ensure that there are no nerve injuries present is important.
How multi–Ligament Knee Injury Treated?
Nearly all cases of multiple ligament knee injury require surgery. The goal of surgery is to:
- Restore knee stability
- Regain full range of motion
- Allow a return to athletic activities in the future
Before surgery, patients are prescribed physical therapy to work on regaining full motion and to decrease knee swelling. All patients wear a brace to protect the knee before surgery.