About this topic
The anterior cruciate ligament is a strong band of tissue in your knee. It is also called the ACL. The ACL keeps the lower leg bone from sliding out in front of the upper leg bone. This controls the back and forth motion in your knee. The ACL acts like a rope to keep the knee stable. The ACL is one of the most commonly injured ligaments in the knee. Your ACL may be stretched or torn. This will cause you to have knee pain and swelling. You may also be unsteady when you walk on or move your knee. ‚
A brace and physical therapy may help some people who are not very active. The only way to fully fix a torn ACL is with surgery. Doctors rarely sew torn ACLs back together since this most often fails. Instead, doctors replace the ligament with a tendon from another part of the body or from a donor. This is called an ACL reconstruction. ‚
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What care is needed at home?
- Ask your doctor what you need to do when you go home. Make sure you ask questions if you do not understand what the doctor says. This way you will know what you need to do.
- Rest your leg. You may be given crutches or a cane to help you walk. Wear your brace as ordered.
- Place an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel over the painful part. Never put ice right on the skin. Do not leave the ice on more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
- Prop your leg on pillows to help with swelling.
- Your doctor will give you drugs for pain and swelling. Take them as ordered.
- Talk to your doctor about how to care for your cut sites. Ask your doctor about:
- When you should change your bandages
- When you may take a bath or shower
- When you may go back to your normal activities like work or driving
- Be sure to wash your hands before touching your wound or dressing.
- Keep moving your ankle up and down to help prevent blood clots. Do this at least 10 times every hour.
What follow-up care is needed?
- Your doctor may ask you to make visits to the office to check on your progress. Be sure to keep these visits.
- If you have stitches or staples, you will need to have them taken out. Your doctor will often want to do this in 1 to 2 weeks.
- You may also need to see a physical therapist (PT). The PT will teach you exercises to help you get back your strength and motion. You may have to go to therapy 2 to 3 times a week for the first 6 weeks.
What drugs may be needed?
The doctor may order drugs to: ‚
- Help with pain and swelling
- Prevent infection
- Prevent blood clots
Will physical activity be limited?
- You may need to rest your knee for a while. You should not do physical activity that makes your knee worse. If you run, work out, or play sports, you may not be able to do those things until your knee gets better.
- It may take 6 to 9 months of therapy until your knee is fully healed.
What problems could happen?
- Infection
- Bleeding
- Blood clots
- Injury to:
- Other knee ligaments
- Nerves
- Blood vessels
- Bone
- Knee osteoarthritis
- Breakage of graft, screw, or other fixations
- Knee problems continue
What can be done to prevent this health problem?
- When turning while walking, turn your whole body and not just your legs.
- Wear the right equipment when playing sports. This includes protective equipment and padding.
- Warm up slowly and stretch before you work out. Use good ways to train, such as slowly adding to how far you run. Do not work out if you are overly tired. Take extra care if working out in cold weather.
- Strengthen your hip and thigh muscles to support your knee better.
- Do not ignore or try to work through pain.
- Stay away from strenuous activities when you cannot keep your balance.
- Keep a healthy weight. Being heavy puts more stress on your knees. This makes them more likely to be hurt.
When do I need to call the doctor?
Go to the ER right away if you have: ‚
- Sudden shortness of breath, sudden onset of chest pain, breathing problems, pain or tenderness in your calf
Call your doctor if you have: ‚
- Signs of infection. These include a fever of 100.4 ‚ °F (38 ‚ °C) or higher, chills, wound that will not heal.
- Signs of wound infection. These include swelling, redness, warmth around the wound; too much pain when touched; yellowish, greenish, or bloody discharge; foul smell coming from the cut site; cut site opens up.
- Very bad knee pain not relieved by the drugs given to you
- Swelling that seems to be getting worse
- Numbness of the leg and foot
- Health problem is not better or you are feeling worse
Teach Back: Helping You Understand
The Teach Back Method helps you understand the information we are giving you. The idea is simple. After talking with the staff, tell them in your own words what you were just told. This helps to make sure the staff has covered each thing clearly. It also helps to explain things that may have been a bit confusing. Before going home, make sure you are able to do these: ‚
- I can tell you about my procedure.
- I can tell you how to care for my cut site.
- I can tell you what may help ease my pain.
- I can tell you what I will do if I have swelling or numbness in my leg or foot.
Where can I learn more?
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons ‚
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00549 ‚
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00297 ‚
KidsHealth ‚
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/bones/acl_injuries.html ‚
Consumer Information Use and Disclaimer
This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider. This is only a brief summary of general information. It does NOT include all information about conditions, illnesses, injuries, tests, procedures, treatments, therapies, discharge instructions or life-style choices that may apply to you. You must talk with your health care provider for complete information about your health and treatment options. This information should not be used to decide whether or not to accept your health care providers advice, instructions or recommendations. Only your health care provider has the knowledge and training to provide advice that is right for you. ‚
Copyright
Copyright ‚ © 2015 Clinical Drug Information, LLC and Lexi-Comp, Inc. ‚