The Art of Orthopaedics. Part V. Diagnosis of Diseases of the Knee Joint.

The internal lateral ligament is the ligament most frequently damaged. Usually a few of the upper fibres are torn away from the periosteal attachment at the lower end of the femur. Occasionally, however, the deep fibres which are attached to the internal semilunar cartilage are partially torn without the cartilage being damaged. Occasionally, the external lateral ligament is injured. With more severe violence the anterior crucial ligament may be torn. It should be borne in mind that in relatively small injuries these ligaments are not completely torn across or pulled from their bone origins, but only a few fibres are torn away. In gross injuries, however, which are often accompanied by dislocation of the joint, the whole ligament may be torn across or the ligament will pull off a flake of bone at its base attachment. The commonest ligament to do this latter is the anterior cruciate, which pulls away a flake from the upper surface of the tibia.