Acute rupture of anterior cruciate ligament : histological study of fifteen cases

: Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament may lead to functional instability and premature degenerative changes of the knee or, if treatment and rehabilitation are carefully carried out, to a functionally stable knee. In this paper we histologically studied the torn ends of the anterior cruciate ligament from fifteen patients who underwent surgical treatment for acute rupture of the ligament. The interval between the rupture and surgery was 11-20 days. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the time of appearance and the degree of degenerative changes of the torn ends in cases of midsubstance rupture in order to determine 1) their biological value for restoring the anterior cruciate ligament and 2) the ideal time and the optimal technique for surgical treatment.