Posterior cruciate ligament injury

[1] Surgery to repair the posterior cruciate ligament is controversial due to its placement and technical difficulty.

[3] The main parameter in this test is step-off, which is the shortest distance from the femur to a hypothetical line that tangents the surface of the tibia from the tibial tuberosity and upwards.

[citation needed] The PCL is located within the knee joint where it stabilizes the articulating bones, particularly the femur and the tibia, during movement.

[9] Because ligaments are viscoelastic (p. 50 [16]) they can handle higher amounts of stress only when the load is increased slowly (p. 30 [16]).

When hyperflexion and hyperextension occur suddenly in combination with this viscoelastic behavior, the PCL deforms or tears.

Wobble boards and Bosu balls are very common pieces of equipment used to balance and help prevent knee injuries as long as they are being used with trained personnel.

Surgery usually takes place after a few weeks, in order to allow swelling to decrease and regular motion to return to the knee.

Then, the new ligament is attached to the bone of the thigh and lower leg with screws to hold it in place.

PCL injuries that are diagnosed in these categories can have their recovery times reduced by performing certain rehabilitative exercises.

Fernandez and Pugh(2012) found that following a PCL grade II diagnosis, a multimodal treatment that spanned over the course of 8 weeks consisting of chiropractic lumbopelvic manipulation, physiotherapy, and implementing an exercise program that emphasized in eccentric muscle contraction (lunges, 1-leg squats, and trunk stabilization) which proved to be an effective way to recover from the PCL injury.

In 2010 national statistics was done by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for posterior cruciate ligaments injuries.

Patients that do not improve stability during physical therapy or develop an increase in pain will be recommended for surgery.

In this medial view of the flexed knee, the lateral femoral condyle has been removed to reveal the structure of the PCL. Because the anterolateral bundle is stretched and the posteromedial bundle relaxed during flexion, excessive flexion in the form of hyperflexion causes tensile stress, shown in red, on the anterolateral bundle of the PCL that leads to PCL injury.
In this medial view of the extended knee, the lateral femoral condyle has been removed to reveal the structure of the PCL. Because the posteromedial bundle is stretched and the anterolateral bundle relaxed during extension, excessive extension in the form of hyperextension causes tensile stress, shown in red, on the posteromedial bundle of the PCL that leads to PCL injury.
Exercises that strengthen the knee joints and the hamstrings include prone knee flexion. Where the knee flexes all the way back to the rear end, hold for about 10 seconds, then slowly lower to original position and repeat.
This picture shows the rehabilitative exercise called a "lunge" used to treat and strengthen PCL injuries.