{"id":71,"date":"2008-10-17T00:06:15","date_gmt":"2008-10-16T23:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/?p=71"},"modified":"2008-10-17T02:38:05","modified_gmt":"2008-10-17T01:38:05","slug":"patient-information-handout-posterior-cruciate-ligament-injury-also-called-pcl-rupture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/2008\/10\/17\/patient-information-handout-posterior-cruciate-ligament-injury-also-called-pcl-rupture\/","title":{"rendered":"Patient Information Handout: Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injury (also called PCL rupture)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Dr. Chris Milne, Sports Physician<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. What is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 15px\">It is a disruption of the posterior cruciate ligament.  This one of the main supporting and stabilising ligaments of the knee joint.<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. What causes it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 15px\">It is usually caused by a hyperextension or forced flexion injury to the knee.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Symptoms \u2013 what you notice <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pain \u2013 in the middle or back of the knee which is worse with running.<\/li>\n<li>Inability to accelerate rapidly.<\/li>\n<li>Instability \u2013 if there is damage to the posterolateral complex, you may also experience instability.<\/li>\n<li>Such an injury is rare on the football field, but may occur in motocross or other high speed accidents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4. Signs \u2013 what the doctor finds <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A positive posterior sag test \u2013 this test is performed with both knees flexed to 90\u00b0.<\/li>\n<li>A positive posterior drawer test \u2013 this test is performed by pushing the tibia (shin bone) backwards and is positive is there is pain or increased movement compared with the other knee.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>5. Investigations<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>X-rays are important to exclude any bony problem in the knee.  It is often necessary to perform an<\/li>\n<li>MRI scan to assess any damage to other structures that may be injured in association with the posterior cruciate ligament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>6. Treatment <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First aid \u2013 an ice pack applied to the back of the knee may be helpful.  Take Panadol or anti-inflammatory tablets.<\/li>\n<li>This injury is difficult to diagnose and it is often necessary to get specialist review to be sure of the nature of the problem.<\/li>\n<li>Most posterior cruciate injuries can be managed via a standard rehabilitation programme (see below).<\/li>\n<li>If there is evidence of associated damage to the posterolateral complex, surgical reconstruction should be considered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>7. Recovery time<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 15px\">Average recovery time is 4-12 weeks.  It is about 6 months if surgical reconstruction is undertaken.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Recovery sequence <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Step 1<\/strong> Ice packs, pain relief.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 2 <\/strong>Regain full extension in the knee.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 3<\/strong> Physiotherapy supervised rehabilitation to build up quadriceps and hamstring function.  This<\/li>\n<li>includes daily exercise such as stair climbing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 4<\/strong> Cycling and swimming.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 5<\/strong> Restart gentle running and progress to stop-start then multidirectional activity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 7 <\/strong>Team training and skill sessions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 8 <\/strong>Resume playing, half game at first.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dr. Chris Milne, Sports Physician 1. What is it? It is a disruption of the posterior cruciate ligament. This one of the main supporting and stabilising ligaments of the knee joint. 2. What causes it? It is usually caused by a hyperextension or forced flexion injury to the knee. 3. Symptoms \u2013 what you [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/2008\/10\/17\/patient-information-handout-posterior-cruciate-ligament-injury-also-called-pcl-rupture\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Patient Information Handout: Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injury (also called PCL rupture)  - BJSM blog - social media&#039;s leading SEM voice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/2008\/10\/17\/patient-information-handout-posterior-cruciate-ligament-injury-also-called-pcl-rupture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Patient Information Handout: Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injury (also called PCL rupture)  - BJSM blog - social media&#039;s leading SEM voice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Dr. Chris Milne, Sports Physician 1. What is it? It is a disruption of the posterior cruciate ligament. This one of the main supporting and stabilising ligaments of the knee joint. 2. What causes it? It is usually caused by a hyperextension or forced flexion injury to the knee. 3. 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