Severe injuries to the ligaments of the knee joint have recently begun to attract attention as a promising field for early reparative surgery. Palmer (1938) rationalised the diagnosis of these injuries and described the technique of surgical repair. Since then several further contributions, mostly from abroad, have supported early operation. In Britain, to judge from the literature, most surgeo...

BACKGROUND Hamstring autograft is a common graft choice when performing ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (UCLR). PURPOSE/HYPOTHESIS The purpose of this study was to survey Major League Baseball (MLB) team physicians and determine whether these physicians harvest the hamstring (semitendinosus or gracilis) from the drive leg (ipsilateral to surgical site) or landing leg (contralateral t...

STUDY DESIGN Controlled laboratory study. OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of instrument-assisted cross-fiber massage (IACFM) on tissue-level healing of knee medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries. BACKGROUND Ligament injuries are common and significant clinical problems for which there are few established interventions. IACFM represents an intervention that may mediate tissue-level...

PURPOSE To prospectively evaluate the normal variability of ligaments, plicae, and the posterior capitellum on conventional magnetic resonance (MR) images of the elbow in asymptomatic volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was approved by the institutional ethics board, and informed consent was obtained from all subjects. MR imaging was performed at 1.5 T in 60 asymptomatic volunteers (3...

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BACKGROUND Injury to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the first metacarpophalangeal joint (MCPJ) is a common injury, especially in skiers. It is often misdiagnosed, which can lead to chronic instability. OBJECTIVE This article reviews the current literature on UCL injury of the thumb and describes the clinical assessment and management. DISCUSSION The UCL of the thumb is often injured...

The initial strength of the intact medial collateral ligament (MCL) of the elbow and the strength of 4 reconstruction techniques were compared. Twenty cadaveric upper extremities were mounted in a custom jig with the elbow at 90 degrees , and a pneumatic cyclic valgus loading protocol was used. The mean peak load to failure was 142.5+/-39.4 N for the intact ligaments and 53.0+/-9.5 N for the do...

Volar dislocations of the thumb metacarpophalangeal joint are uncommon and can be associated with rupture of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). We report a case where a volar thumb dislocation was successfully closed reduced, but instability required open repair of the UCL. Early motion protocol helped achieve favorable results.

The viscoelastic properties of human ligament potentially guard against structural failure, yet the microstructural origins of these transient behaviors are unknown. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are widely suspected to affect ligament viscoelasticity by forming molecular bridges between neighboring collagen fibrils. This study investigated whether GAGs directly affect viscoelastic material behavio...

Medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries are a common knee injury, especially in competitive athletes. Identifying genetic loci associated with MCL injury could shed light on its etiology. A genome-wide association screen was performed using data from the Research Program in Genes, Environment and Health (RPGEH) including 1 572 cases of MCL injury and 100 931 controls. 2 SNPs (rs80351309 and r...