Anterolateral Ligament Injury
What is the anterolateral ligament? What does it do? And why haven’t you heard of it before? Alex Dodds, knee surgeon for The Cotswolds, Cheltenham & Gloucester, explains.
What is the anterolateral ligament and what does it do?
Like all the ligaments of the knee, the anterolateral ligament’s (ALL’s) job is to support stability. Specifically, the ALL helps control the locking and unlocking. It sits on the outside of your knee.
Why haven’t you heard of the ALL before?
Most of us have heard of the ACL. You might be familiar with the MCL and LCL. But if you’re unfamiliar with the anterolateral ligament, it wouldn’t be surprising, not least because it has only recently been ‘discovered’.
That’s not technically correct – the ALL was identified more than a century ago – but it only gained its own distinct identity in 2013. Before that, it was ‘bundled up’ with other tissues that are part of the knee joint.
What causes an ALL injury?
ALL injuries frequently occur when you damage your ACL. Injure the ACL and some studies indicate a 90% chance of damaging the ALL at the same time. So the factors that influence an ACL tear (landing awkwardly after a jump, sharp changes of direction, collisions) will also affect the ALL.
What are the symptoms of an anterolateral ligament injury?
Because the ALL is invariably damaged at the same time as the ACL, you’re unlikely to notice symptoms specifically from the ALL tear. They will be part and parcel of the symptoms of a damaged ACL.
How do you diagnose an ALL injury?
For many years, the lack of understanding about the ALL meant that damage to it wasn’t diagnosed at all. That meant many ACL reconstructions were compromised by a failure to diagnose an ALL tear.
Book your appointment now
Visit my Cheltenham and Gloucester knee clinic and we will use a combination of clinical examination, X-rays or MRI scans to diagnose not just the ACL injury, but any ALL tear too.
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Appointments
To make an appointment please either fill in the contact form and you will be called back by our secretary to arrange a convenient appointment time or get in touch directly.
Call Chrissie Holmyard 01242 246549 at Nuffield Health, Cheltenham.
