EXCESSIVE COMPRESSION OF THE HUMAN TIBIO-FEMORAL JOINT
CAUSES ACL RUPTURE BEFORE BONE
FRACTURE
Abstract:
The knee is one of the most frequently
injured joints in the human body. A recent study suggests that axial
compressive loads on the knee may play a role in injury to the anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL) for the flexed knee, because of an approximate 10° posterior tilt in the tibial plateau (Li et al.,
1998). The hypothesis of the current study was that excessive axial compressive
loads in the human tibio-femoral (TF) joint would cause relative displacement
and rotation of the tibia with respect to the femur, and result in isolated injury
to the ACL when the knee is flexed to 60°, 90° or 120°. Sixteen isolated knees from eleven fresh cadaver
donors (74.3±10.5 years) were exposed to repetitive TF compressive loads
increasing in intensity until catastrophic injury. ACL rupture was documented
in 14/16 cases. The maximum TF joint compressive force for ACL failure was 4.9 ± 2.1 kN for all flexion angles combined. For the 90° flexed knee, the injury occurred with a relative
anterior displacement of 5.4±3.8mm,
a lateral displacement of 4.1±1.4mm,
and a 7.8±7.0° internal rotation of the tibia with respect to the
femur.
Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories,
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Roger C. Haut, Ph.D.
Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratories
A414 East Fee Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Tel: (517) 355-0320
Fax: (517) 353-0789
E-mail address: haut@msu.edu