In Vitro Biomechanical Analyses of The PCL and Medial Ligaments of The Human Knee
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that surgical treatments of PCL injuries are not successful in all cases and there is room for improvement. The effectiveness of an isolated PCL reconstruction, in the setting of what actually is a multi-ligament injury, may be inadequate, and therefore the biomechanical contribution of other ligaments in a PCL-deficient knee need to be better understood.
A new apparatus was used to analyze the effect of medial ligaments transection on the kinematics of the PCL-deficient knee during simulated clinical tests and activities of daily living. We observed that the anterior translation of the medial side of the joint increased after transection of the POL; however, this increase was small. Transection of neither the POL nor dMCL affected the posterior translation of the medial aspect of the joint; however, both contributed to resisting loads crossing the joint, which increase after the PCL transection.