No. Many ACL tears can be treated non-operatively. Many factors go into the decision making process. Some patients have ACL tears and no instability symptoms. Others are profoundly symptomatic, even with simple stair climbing, turning and twisting. We do not know why some people are more symptomatic than others, which is why surgery is not the right answer for everybody.

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.

ACL injury is associated with multidirectional sport (football, basketball, netball and skiing particularly), so refraining from these sports is a way to prevent injury, but often not acceptable to athletes. The mechanism of injury is often getting the foot caught in the ground while the body moves in another direction. In football, wearing boots with shorter stops helps prevent the foot getting caught in the turf. In all sports, a stabilising knee brace may offer some protection.

A key feature of a serious ACL injury is a feeling of instability (i.e. that the knee may collapse from underneath you).

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.

No. Many degenerative or attritional tears can be managed non-operatively and allow you to return to your "normal" lifestyle.

a general rule, the body cannot repair a torn ACL if the tear is complete. Partial tears may sometimes heal but often will progress to becoming complete tears. If surgery is needed, the surgeon will not repair the ligament directly, as this has a low success rate, but will instead use a nearby tendon to reconstruct the original ligament. Your future demands in multi-directional sport.

The damaged ACL cannot be sewn back together as it will not heal. A torn ACL will require a reconstructive procedure using transplantable tendons from your body (autografts) such as the hamstring, bone-patella-tendon-bone (BTB) or quadriceps tendons, to reconstruct this torn ligament. Allograft (tissue bank cadaver tissue) tissue is often used with less pain to you and earlier return to function. Both autograft and allograft tendons are acceptable to use for ACL reconstructions.

Not always. Some people are able to function normally without surgery, so long as they have physiotherapy, but others need reconstructive surgery no matter how much physiotherapy they have. Whether or not you have your ACL reconstructed also depends on how active you are, and how your injury impacts on your daily and sporting activities.

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.

I see in the newspaper there are ads for a specialty orthopedic hospital in our community now. If I go ahead and have my knee replaced, is there any advantage to going to such a place? My regular doctor just uses the local hospital.

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).

Absolutely. The hips are rarely the cause of acute limping. If the ACLs are torn, your pet is only going to get worse.

Depending on how serious it is, you may want to consult with your physician before starting yoga. Be sure to tell your yoga teacher about your condition, and he/she will adapt the yoga poses to your abilities. Many people find that yoga helps relieve lingering symptoms of surgery or injury.

Infection is the most common complication of any surgical procedure. In laparoscopic surgery rate of infection is very less than open surgery but many statistical studies shows that infection is still the most common complication after laparoscopic surgery. This complication is not related to the laparoscopic technique itself but depends on the sterilization and theatre environment of the hospital.

The most common eye injury is a corneal abrasion, which occurs when the surface layer of the eye is scratched. Corneal abrasions usually heal on their own within 24 hours of the injury but must be kept clean to prevent infection.

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.

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.

At this time, no. If there is compression on the spinal cord or the spine needs to be stabilized, surgery can be performed in an attempt to correct these problems. After surgery, some function may be restored, but surgery is currently unable to restore all lost function from a spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injuries are devastating and have life-long consequences.