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Frequently Asked Questions

How is an ACL injury diagnosed?

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries
Your doctor can tell whether you have an ACL injury by asking questions about your past health and examining your knee. The doctor may ask: How did you injure your knee? Have you had any other knee injuries? Your doctor will check for stability, movement, and tenderness in both the injured and uninjured knee. You may need X-rays, which can show damage to the knee bones. Or you may need other imaging tests, such as an MRI. An MRI can show damage to ligaments, tendons, muscles, or knee cartilage.
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How common is ACL injury and the surgery for ACL tears?

Frequently Asked Questions
Anterior cruciate ligament is one of the commonest knee injuries in sports and day-to-day life. It is estimated that around 1,00,000 to 2,00,000 ACL injuries occur per year in United States and roughly around 70,000 ACL reconstructions are performed.
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How are ACL tears diagnosed?

injuryupdate.com.au - Australia's best information source fo...
Most ACL tears can be detected by experienced examiners as the knee joint will undergo abnormal movements when stressed. There is a variation in the normal range of these tests so the amount of movement is compared to the other knee. Sometimes these tests can be inconclusive immediately after an injury, due to excessive swelling.
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What are the symptoms of an ACL injury?

Frequently Asked Questions
A key feature of a serious ACL injury is a feeling of instability (i.e. that the knee may collapse from underneath you).
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How can I tell if I’ve got a serious ACL injury?

Frequently Asked Questions
Any injury that involves the knee being twisted while the foot is planted on the ground can result in a serious ligament injury. Key features of a serious knee injury include a feeling of instability (i.e. a sense that the knee may collapse from underneath you). Recurrent episodes of the knee collapsing with associated swelling and pain are an obvious sign that all is not well, and that medical attention should be sought.
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Can cartilage injury be diagnosed clinically and radiologically?

Frequently Asked Questions
It is very difficult to diagnose articular cartilage injury clinically and by MRI. However a cartilage injury can be suspected based on the type of injury and the ligaments torn.
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How Is An ACL Tear Diagnosed?

ACL Tears-Surgery or Not? - Bootcamp Buddies - Weight Watche...
ACL tears usually cause enough discomfort to cause the injured person to seek medical attention. The physician will examine the knee, and, in most cases, be able to identify which ligaments are injured. However, there may also be injuries to the joint surface that are more difficult to diagnose. In addition, swelling may sometimes make it difficult to diagnose a tear. Further evaluation with an MRI or arthroscope may be necessary to completely evaluate the injury.
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What causes an ACL injury?

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries
Your ACL can be injured if your knee joint is bent backward, twisted, or bent side to side. The chance of injury is higher if more than one of these movements occurs at the same time. Contact (being hit by another person or object) also can cause an ACL injury. ACL injury often occurs during sports. The injury can happen when your foot is firmly planted on the ground and a sudden force hits your knee while your leg is straight or slightly bent.
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For more information, see: Should I have surgery for an ACL injury?

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries
Recovery from an ACL injury varies with each individual. Your treatment should continue until your knee is stable and strong, not for a certain length of time. ACL injuries in children and teens are less common than in adults, but they do occur, especially in teens. An untreated or unsuccessfully treated ACL injury in children or teens may result in future knee problems. The knee may become more and more unstable and, over time, osteoarthritis may develop.
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What is a torn ACL?

Phoenix Orthopedic Evaluation Arizona Treatment Consultation...
The ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) is a ligament in the center of your knee. The ACL gets damaged when twisted too far, which makes it a common injury in relation to sports or other physical activity. ACL Reconstruction is performed using a combination of open surgery and arthroscopic surgery. Before ACL reconstruction process begins, your surgeon will examine your knee arthroscopically, and repair any additional damage to the knee, such as a torn meniscus, or worn articular cartilage.
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What is an ACL tear?

FAQ Knee - Howard J Luks,MD
The ACL is the Anterior Cruciate Ligament. There are more than 4 major ligaments that essentially hold the knee together. Without one of more of these ligaments the knee would be loose and you would perceive that the knee was giving way or buckling. The ACL is the most commonly torn knee ligament. The ACL is usually torn as the result of a non-contact twisting injury. You will usually feel or hear a pop, the knee will buckle and within a short period of time, significant swelling will occur.
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Sports Medicine, Therapy, Rehabilitation and Surgery- Mass G...
The most common mechanism is a combination of a sudden stopping motion on the leg while quickly twisting at the knee. The planted foot remains stationary while the body rotates toward the opposite side of the body. This can happen in a sport such as basketball, when a player lands on the leg when coming down from a rebound or is running down the court and makes an abrupt stop to pivot. In football, soccer, or lacrosse, cleats prevent the foot from slipping during this motion.
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How is brain injury diagnosed?

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When there is evidence of gross damage to the brain, such as hemorrhaging, swelling or contusions. These physical findings are detected by CAT-scan (CT scan) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Where the damage is minimal, a diagnosis is made by obtaining history from the patient, the symptoms reported by the patient and the results of neuropsychological testing.
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What is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury?

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries
anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, injury is a tear in one of the knee ligaments that joins the upper leg bone with the lower leg bone. The ACL keeps the knee stable. See a picture of the knee and the ACL . Injuries range from mild, such as a small tear, to severe, such as when the ligament and part of the bone separate from the rest of the bone. Without treatment, the injured ACL is less able to control knee movement, and the bones are more likely to rub against each other.
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Should I have surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury?

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are caused when the knee is straightened beyond its normal limits (hyperextended), twisted, or bent side to side. Changing direction quickly or cutting around an obstacle or another player with one foot solidly planted on the ground (as can happen in sports that put high demand on the ACL such as basketball, football, soccer, hockey, and gymnastics).
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How does an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury occur?

Frequently Asked Questions: Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)...
Injuries to the ACL can occur in several ways, usually without contact. High speed twists, bending or extending the knee beyond its normal range, or landing "wrong" from a jump may result in an ACL tear. Basketball, volleyball, tennis and soccer players, as well as skiers and snowboarders are particularly vulnerable. Female athletes are more prone to ACL injury than males.
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What is the ACL?

FAQ - What is the ACL ?
There are two large ligaments inside your knee each about the size of your little finger that cross deep inside the joint. They are called the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) and go from the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone). They serve to stabilize the knee and allow it to glide through a smooth range of motion as you bend and straighten the leg. The ACL is the ligament in the front and the one most commonly injured.
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How it is diagnosed?

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Several ways have been suggested to diminish the diagnostic error that occurs if diagnosis is based solely on the clinical picture of suspected appendicitis. In fact appendicitis is a disease, which can mimic most of the causes of abdominal pain as well as some of the chest diseases. Despite new x-ray techniques, CT scans and ultrasounds, the diagnosis of appendicitis can be quite challenging.
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Exquisite sensitivity of the tiny gland openings at the entrance of the vagina, to light touch with a cotton-tipped applicator, is the typical diagnostic feature of Vulvodynia. This is called the “touch test.” About two thirds of patients with Vulvodynia have visible, red tiny spots at these points. For the remainder of patients, a doctor may detect inflamed surface blood vessels with a colposcope, which is a magnifying instrument.
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Each year a large number of people visit their General Practitioner (GP) with symptoms such as back pain, neck pain, muscle pain or swollen and painful joints. Often, these symptoms are not severe and may last just a few days, in which case the GP will provide advice or treatment and allow the problem to resolve. But, if the pain persists or is severe, your GP may decide to refer you to a specialist in musculoskeletal diseases.
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Here's a typical scenario: A mother undergoes a routine ultrasound early in her pregnancy, for example at six or seven weeks gestation. Two fetuses are detected. The mother is told she is having twins. When the mother returns to the doctor six weeks later, only one heartbeat can be heard with a Doppler scan. Another ultrasound is performed. Only one fetus is identified.
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The only way a positive diagnosis of Endo can be made currently is via surgery, either a laparoscopy or the more invasive laparotomy, where biopsies are taken from suspected sites. It can also be visualized during surgery if the surgeon knows what to look for. Ultrasounds, MRIs, CT Scans and other diagnostic tests are not conclusive. The ERC does not support "medical diagnoses," such as administering GnRH therapy prior to a surgical diagnosis.
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Kidney cancer is usually diagnosed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound imaging, or by tissue biopsy. (Please see Kidney Cancer Diagnosis for more information.)
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How is a tendon injury diagnosed?

Tendon Injury (Tendinopathy)
To diagnose a tendon injury, a doctor will ask questions about your past health and your symptoms and will do a physical exam. If the injury is related to your use of a tool or sports equipment, the doctor may ask you to show how you use it. If your symptoms are severe or do not improve with treatment, your doctor may want you to have a test, such as an X-ray, ultrasound, or MRI.
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What is a double-bundle ACL reconstruction?

Double Bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament - What is a Double-...
The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is one of four major ligaments in the knee that provide stability to the joint. When a patient sustains a tear to the ACL, a sensation of instability, or giving out, may develop in the injured knee. In order to restore stability to the knee, your doctor may recommend an ACL reconstruction to insert a new ligament in the place of the damaged ACL.
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What is an ACL "bundle"?

Double Bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament - What is a Double-...
The anterior cruciate ligament is made of a tough, fibrous tissue that spans the knee joint, attaching to the femur (thigh bone) on top, and the tibia (shin bone) below. The ligament itself is made of thousands of individual fibers, that together form the ACL. Some of these fibers are organized into distinct bundles. The normal ACL has two primary bundles of fibers. These bundles are positioned closely together, in some patients with normal ACLs it can be difficult to discern distinct bundles.
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What is an ACL and how are these injuries treated?

Frequently Asked Questions -- Advanced Centers for Orthopaed...
ACL is an abbreviation for anterior cruciate ligament of the knee. The knee is the largest and most complex joint in the body. It depends on four ligaments and other muscles and tendons to function properly. There are two ligaments on the sides of the knee, the medial collateral ligament and the lateral collateral ligament and two cross ligaments in the center of the knee, the anterior cruciate ligament and the posterior cruciate ligament.
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What are the symptoms of ACL tear?

Frequently Asked Questions
Patients with ACL insufficiency can walk in a straight line. But when they attempt to change the direction suddenly while walking or running they may feel the knee joint giving away. Additional symptoms like Pain and repeated joint swellings may be present due to additional injuries to meniscus and cartilage.
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Is it a must to have reconstruction surgery for ACL tear?

Frequently Asked Questions
ACL tears do not have the capacity to heal by themselves. This is because of the poor blood supply and the presence of joint fluid. Similarly the torn edges of the ligament cannot be sutured together, as this procedure has very high failure rates and has been given up. The ideal way to get back the function of ACL is to have reconstrucion of ACL. Even though patient can manage activities like walking climbing stairs, without ACL.
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