Rupture of the ligament of the knee joint is a serious pathology that requires serious treatment and long-term rehabilitation of the patient. It is characterized by the separation of connective tissue fibers from the bone. Often a bunch can simply be torn in half.
Why does damage happen and how is it determined?
As was said, this situation is typical for athletes who are forced to constantly train and keep their muscles in tension. Sometimes they may not withstand and burst. The same situation occurs after a direct hit to the knee due to any fall.
Naturally, not only athletes can suffer. For example, an ordinary person who accidentally tripped and fell can get a ligament of the knee joint . However, his muscles are not trained, so the injury can be more complex. Disease of the skeleton can also provoke joint damage. The risk of a gap increases in the elderly.
Signs of the presented disease appear very quickly. A rupture of a ligament of the knee joint is characterized by the following symptoms:
- swelling in the affected area;
- strong pain;
- redness of the skin at the site of injury;
- a distinct crack is heard during the break;
- a serious restriction in movements (a person can not only walk, but just step on his foot).
Traditional treatments for pathology
It should be noted that the patient will not be able to cope with the situation on his own, therefore, in any case, he needs the help of traumatologists. Rupture of the ligament of the knee joint is eliminated using a complex of various procedures. First of all, a cold compress should be put on the injured area, which will help partially relieve pain. In most cases, non-steroidal drugs (Ibuprofen, Diclofenac) are prescribed to the patient, which help relieve inflammation.
Naturally, the injured person should rest as much as possible and completely limit their movements. The leg should always be in a raised position. To do this, you can put a pillow or a roller from clothes under it.
To fix the joint, special elastic bandages and bandages are often used. You can’t put heat on the leg immediately after injury, as it will increase blood flow to the damaged area.
For quick healing of the gap, special ointments are used. Naturally, the doctor can prescribe physiotherapeutic procedures (electrophoresis, UHF), but he does not do this right away. Treatment of rupture of ligaments of the knee joint is performed with the help of massage. However, it is carried out already during the rehabilitation of the patient, as well as physiotherapy exercises.
When is surgery used?
If the gap is partial (which is easily determined using x-ray examination), then the above methods are quite enough for treatment. In difficult cases, an operation is performed. The rupture of the ligaments of the knee joint by the radical method is also eliminated if the tissues grow together incorrectly or the traditional treatment has failed.
The operation consists in stitching damaged fibers. It is done under local or general anesthesia. For the intervention, very thin instruments are used, thanks to which it is not necessary to make large cuts on the skin. Moreover, after the procedure, the patient recovers faster, and the period of his rehabilitation is reduced.
If the ligament cannot be stitched, an autotransplantation of the patient’s own tissues to the damaged site is performed. In an extreme case, an artificial prosthesis is used.