Sports Injuries of the Knee

Key points

• • The knee is stabilised by ligaments inside it (the cruciates) and at the sides (the collaterals), and by two C-shaped cartilages (menisci).
• • The anterior cruciate ligament is often torn by a sudden twist on a planted foot, with a pop, rapid swelling and a feeling of giving way.
• • A meniscus is torn by twisting the bent, weight-bearing knee, causing pain, locking and swelling that comes on more slowly.
• • The unhappy triad is a combined injury of the anterior cruciate ligament, the medial collateral ligament and the medial meniscus.
• • These injuries are suggested by clinical tests of stability and confirmed by MRI, which shows the soft tissues well.