Ligaments are tough, non-stretchable fibers that hold your bones together. When you injure a ligament in your knee, you may feel as though your knees will not allow you to move or even hold you up.
The knee, comprised of the femur, tibia, and patella, is a compound joint capable of movement in multiple planes. The articulation of the femur and tibia permits flexion, extension, and a small amount of rotation. A complex array of ligaments provides stability to the knee joint during these movements.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the major stabilizing ligament of the knee. The ACL is located in the center of the knee joint and runs from the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone), through the center of the knee. The ACL prevents the femur from sliding backwards on the tibia (or the tibia sliding forwards on the femur). Together with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), ACL stabilizes the knee in a rotational fashion. Thus, if one of these ligaments is significantly damaged, the knee will be unstable when planting the foot of the injured extremity and pivoting, causing the knee to buckle and give way.
The ACL is the most commonly injured ligament in the knee. When the ligament is torn it does not heal on its own. The ACL can be injured in several ways:
Changing direction rapidly
Slowing down when running
Landing from a jump
Direct contact, such as in a football tackle
Successful ACL reconstruction surgery tightens your knee and restores its stability. It also helps you avoid further injury and get back to playing sports. Also important in the decision about treatment is that long term instability may lead to early arthritis of the knee.
LARS ligaments are artificial ligaments intended for the intra or extra-articular reconstruction of ruptured ligaments. Designed to mimic the normal anatomic ligament fibers, the intra-articular longitudinal fibers resist fatigue and allow fibroblastic growth. The extra-articular woven fibers provide strength and resistance to elongation.
LARS ligaments can be used in conjunction with suturing to the remnant of the ruptured ligament, or as an autogenous reconstruction. In both cases LARS allows the original ligament tissues to heal in the absence of traction and provides an earlier return to normal function.
LARS ligaments can be used to reconstruct both the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments. LARS ACL and PCL ligaments come in many different sizes so that selection according to weight and activity can be precise. The ACL and PCL synthetic ligaments have both been used extensively for many years with excellent clinical results.
The LARS ACL has the intra-articular bundles in clockwise or anticlockwise orientation; this is to mimic the natural ligaments in the right or left knee. It can be used in acute injuries or where there is a good ACL stump that has a good blood supply.
LARS ACL reconstruction and augmentation
Luke Covell's Return To Rugby League
Rapid recovery after knee injury: LARS synthetic ligaments for ACL reconstruction
You will need to have the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system to view this document. Download the Reader by clicking on the Acrobat icon below.
