Significance of combined anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus injury

The combined lesion of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) with simultaneous or secondary meniscal tears has severe consequences for the knee joint. By a synopsis of the literature and own experimental investigations in sheep it can be shown that in ACL deficient knees secondary meniscal lesions occur, what finally ends in osteoarthrosis. The combined lesion of the ACL and the meniscus results in a more severe damage of the joint than the sum of the single lesions. ACL reconstruction in these cases is very important, because meniscal tears cannot heal in unstable knees. On the other hand resections of the menisci have to be avoided, because the loss of these secondary stabilizers and synergists of the ACL increases the risk of joint degeneration.