DR. EDE O.

PATHOLOGY AND MECHANISM

OF COMMON SPORTS INJURY TO
THE KNEE
 Common injuries – ligament sprains
and tears, meniscal tears, tendon
tears.

 Combination injuries are common

 Uncommon injuries – fractures and

dislocations

 Commoner in unaccustomed exercises

ACL injuries

 High demand sports- soccer,

basketball

 Twisting, incorrect landing from a

jump

 Partial or complete tear

 50% associated with other injuries (

unhappy triad)
ACL injuries also commonly occur with hyperextension of the
knee, deceleration and valgus stress.
PCL

 Less common than ACL

 Direct blow to the front of a

flexed knee

 Usually partial and tend to heal

spontaneously
Collateral ligaments

 Sideway impact to the knee or

ankle

 MCL injury is commoner and

frequently associated with medial
meniscus injury
MCL tears: most common mechanism is a
blow to the outside of the knee followed by
planting of the foot and twisting of the knee.
There is a high risk of injury to the medial meniscus with MCL tears.
Meniscal injuries

 Sudden twisting of the knee

 Medial meniscus injury is commoner
Tendon injuries

 Quadriceps and Patella tendon

 Running and Jumping sports

 Patella tendon in younger people

 Quadriceps in older people

 Thank you