Combined lesions of the anterior cruciate ligament and the menisci

The combined lesion of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) with simultaneo us or secondary meniscal tears has severe consequences for the knee joint. By a synopsis of the literature and own experimental investigations in shee p it can be shown that in ACL deficient knees secondary meniscal lesions oc cur, what finally ends in osteoarthrosis. The combined lesion of the ACL an d the meniscus results in a more severe damage of the joint than the sum of the single lesions. ACL reconstruction in these cases is very important, b ecause meniscal tears cannot heal in unstable knees. On the other hand rese ctions of the menisci have to be avoided, because the loss of these seconda ry stabilizers and synergists of the ACL increases the risk of joint degene ration.