Sports Exercise and Injury

Woo SL-Y., Ohno K., Weaver C.M., Pomaybo A.S., Xerogeanes J.W.


Ideally, a natural history study of injuries to a particular knee ligament would definitively exclude all patients with injuries of other knee ligaments. Furthermore, follow-up would be long enough to enable a final assessment of outcome. Unfortunately, no such study has been clinically possible. Instead, one must rely on clinical studies of more limited scope and follow-up time, as well as on controlled basic science studies of various injury models. Because knee ligament injuries are very common in competitive and recreational sports, numerous clinical and basic science studies have been performed to evaluate treatment regimens. In many cases, surgical versus non surgical treatment has been a subject of debate. This report describes clinical findings and results of experimental studies of non-operative treatment for isolated injuries of the medial collateral ligament (MCL), combined injuries of the MCL and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and isolated injuries of the ACL and of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). In addition to summarizing the body of current research concerning treatment of such knee injuries, we hope to stimulate the desire for additional work in this area.