Abstract :
Introduction: The role of ALL regarding knee stability has been vastly studied. Aim of the study was to summarize anatomy, embiomechanics and surgical indications of the anterolateral ligament reconstruction according to the recent literature.
Materials and Methods: An electronic search in Pubmed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases was conducted for anterolateral ligament anatomical studies, which included cadaveric anatomy, histological anatomy, anatomical imaging, surgical indications and anterolateral ligament embiomechanical studies. The data that have been investigated included the embiomechanical properties of the ligament along with its dimensions and its course. The femoral and tibial adhesion and the histological evaluation of the anterolateral ligament have also been examined.
Results: In 29 relevant articles were finally included. There are three adhesion points of the ligament, to the tibia, the femur and the lateral meniscus. Several studies have shown that ALL reduces knee inward rotation during pivot-shift examination. MRI and ultrasound have proved to be the golden screening tools. Indications for its reconstruction included the revision of ACLR, athletes of high demands, ligament laxity, high degree of pivot-shift, pivoting activities (skiing).
Conclusion: ALL exhibits typical ligament characteristics. Embiomechanically ALL seems to act as a knee stabilizer in the inward turn. It follows an oblique path with three adhesion sites.
Keyword :
Anterolateral ligament, Anatomy, Embiomechanics, Surgical indications, Screening tools.