TORN /INJURED ACL TREATMENT

Before developing the treatments that are used concerning ACL injuries, it is important to determine the main goals of treatment for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. These goals are:

• Restore normal stability in the knee.
• Regain the level of function that was present before the knee injury the level of function you had before the knee injury.
• Limit the loss of function in the knee.
• Prevent future injuries or more damage to other knee structures.
• Reduce the pain felt by the patient.

This article is going to be divided into three topics:

1) Treatment right after an injury.

2) Further treatment.

3) Advantages of using an arthrometer for treatment of ACL injuries.

1) Treatment right after an injury

If you accidently injured your knee and suspect a torn ACL, the first treatment that should be considering is the following: 

• Use first aid to reduce the swelling and pain. Many techniques may be applied to achieve this such as applying ice, using elastic bandages, resting the knee or taking pain medicine. 
• Using crutches during the days following the injury can also be considered but not for too long as the leg muscles may become weaker making movements of the knee become difficult.
• Strength and motion exercise may also be done to prepare for further treatment.

2) Further treatment

Further treatment depends on:

• How much the ACL is torn (depends if it is a grade I, II or III sprain).
• How stable your knee is. 
• When the injury occurred.
• Whether other parts of the knee are injured.
• if you had other knee problems before.
• Your age and overall health.
• Your willingness and ability to complete a long and rigorous rehab.

Treatment options include:

• Nonsurgical treatment such as a physical rehabilitation program created.
• Using an arthrometer: arthrometers allow to quickly & objectively determine the grade of the sprain, the knee stability and what parts of the knee have been injured. 
• ACL surgery to reconstruct the ACL: Various techniques may be applied such as the hamstring tendon graft or the patellar tendon graft reconstruction surgery.

3) Advantages of using an arthrometer for the treatment of ACL injuries

Since their creation, arthrometers have mostly been used for study purposes but as of 2007, Genourob has put all its effort in proving how these can be a real asset for treating ACL injuries on a daily basis. Nowadays, arthrometers are becoming essential for clinical purposes because in one hand, they allow to objectively identify torn ACLs and in the other, they enable to follow the state of the ACL graft after surgery.

This follow up is fundamental as it practically makes it possible to guarantee knee stability after surgery. Here's why:

Recovering from an ACL surgery is not easy. The surgeon uses a tendon graft, which is directly harvested from the body of the patient and puts it in place of the original torn ligament. After the surgery, the body uses an amazing process that transforms the tendon graft into a brand new ligament.

Currently, this technique is performed by most of the orthopaedic surgeons as it is the most efficient one but unfortunately, the healing process takes a long time (several months) making rehabilitation a crucial part in the process of gaining knee stability. Consequently, it is at this stage that using an arthrometer can significantly make a difference because today, Genourob delivers the worlds' first fully automated arthrometers which perfect the often used physical examination assessment tests.

How? By applying physical examination test in a fully automated way, Genourob's arthrometers lower the risk of endangering the plasty at a minimum whilst delivering precise and objective results on the state of the knee ligamentous structures. It therefore makes it possible for both the medical practitioners and the patients to understand if the healing process is going well, or in the other hand, if a personalized rehab is required to make way for knee stability.