“I heard it pop.” That’s
how many people tell the
tale about the day an ACL
injury took them off the
ski slope, football field,
basketball court or soccer
field.
✦
ACL stands for
anterior cruciate ligament
.
“The ACL is one of four impor-
tant structures that stabilize the knee,” explains Michael Abdulian, MD,
orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Glendale Adventist
Medical Center’s (GAMC) Orthopedic Institute. “It runs down the middle
of the knee from the femur to the tibia and keeps the tibia—the shin-
bone—from sliding too far forward.”
ACL injuries occur when your foot is planted on the ground but your
body continues to move or twist. They usually occur during sports, and
the majority are actually non-contact injuries.
“The ACL often makes a popping sound when it tears,” Dr. Abdulian
says. Pain, swelling, tenderness, inability to walk and loss of motion are
other symptoms. After injury, the knee usually feels unstable.
WHAT CAUSES AN ACL INJURY?
According to the American Academy
of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), you can injure your ACL in a number
of ways, such as:
●
●
Changing directions rapidly.
●
●
Stopping suddenly.
●
●
Falling backward as the lower leg moves forward.
●
●
Slowing down while running.
●
●
Landing incorrectly from a jump.
●
●
Colliding with another player or object.
While ACL injuries are common in athletes, they can happen to
anyone.
WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?
“How an ACL injury is treated depends
on the degree of injury and if there are other injured structures in the
knee,” explains Dr. Abdulian. Care is usually tailored to each patient’s
individual needs and injury.
According to Dr. Abdulian, for some patients, braces and physical
therapy may be all the treatment that is needed. In other cases, surgery
is the best option to get patients back to sports.
“In surgery, the ACL is usually rebuilt using another tendon taken
from elsewhere in the body—such as from a hamstring or quadriceps,”
he says. Another option is to use a donor graft to reconstruct the liga-
ment. “It’s an arthroscopic procedure that uses very small incisions.”
Whether treatment involves surgery or not, rehabilitation is crucial,
Dr. Abdulian says. A structured, progressive physical therapy pro-
gram can take several months, but it’s the best way to get you back in
motion—and doing the sports and activities that you love.
If you think you may have injured your ACL, don’t wait—call
the GAMC Orthopedic Institute at
(818) 863-4446
for an ap-
pointment with one of our orthopedic surgeons! To learn more,
visit
AdventistHealth.org/Glendale/Ortho.
WEAK KNEES?
What happens when you hurt your ACL
and how we can heal it
IN
THE
Michael Abdulian, MD
In this issue
The power
of the lift
Bliss Saleebyan triumphs
under the heaviness of
a new cancer diagnosis.
Equipped with persever-
ance and strength, she
carries the weight of her
challenge high above
her. Find out where she
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heroic story on page 4.
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