Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury
What is Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury?
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the main stabilising ligaments in the knee. An ACL injury is a tear to the ACL.
Injuries to the ACL are common among people who engage in sports involving start-stop movements, pivoting or sudden changes in direction, such as football, netball, tennis, dancing and skiing.
Symptoms include:
- A popping sound when the ligament ruptures
- Difficulty with knee movement
- Feeling of instability, with the knee “giving way” during daily activities
- Immediate pain after an injury
- Swelling of the affected knee within 4 to 12 hours
- Walking with a painful limp
In acute injury, the primary goal is to achieve pain and knee swelling control, improve muscle strength and maintain the range of knee movement by analgesics and physiotherapy.
Surgery will be recommended if there is significant knee instability following the resolution of the acute inflammation.