Anterior Cruciate Ligament Every year there are 250,000 to 300,000 anterior cruciate ligament injuries ("ESPN feature on ACL Injuries, ACL Tear, ACL Surgery, ACL Injury, Dallas Texas Sports Medicine, Dallas Mavericks"). The anterior cruciate ligament is the tissue that connects your femur to your tibia (Mayo Clinic Staff Print "Overview"). This ligament is critical for an active and healthy lifestyle. There are many aspects in sports that can contribute to the cause of an ACL injury. An injury that can be as severe as a complete or partial tear of the ligament. Almost all ACL injuries occur during sport activities where jumping, cutting, or sudden stops take place (Mayo Clinic Staff Print "Overview"). The most common sports linked to an ACL tear is basketball, football, soccer, and skiing ("Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury"). When the ACL is torn a popping…show more content… Treatment may include rest and rehabilitation exercises to help regain strength or surgery to replace the torn ligament followed by rehabilitation (Mayo Clinic Staff Print "Overview"). A MRI and an exam will be done to diagnose a torn ACL. The surgeon will use an allograft or an autograph to replace the torn ACL. An allograft is tissue taken from a donor and an autograft is tissue taken from your own body. The surgery procedure is done by knee arthroscopy. This means a tiny camera is inserted into the knee through a small surgical cut ("Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury"). Other small cuts will be made around your knee to allow the surgeon to insert medical instruments needed to repair the ACL. After the surgeon inspects the knee for any other injuries he or she will remove the torn ACL and replace it with the autograft or allograft ("Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury"). Once the surgery is complete the surgical cuts on the knee will be stitched and dressed before
