Current trends in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction part 1: Biology and biomechanics of reconstruction

With today's increasing emphasis on sporting activities, the incidence of a nterior cruciate ligament injuries has also increased. Epidemiologic studie s estimate that the prevalence of anterior cruciate ligament injuries is ab out 1 per 3000 Americans. Management of these injuries has evolved from non operative treatment to extracapsular augmentation and primary ligament repa ir to anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Treatment of these injurie s has significantly improved over the last few decades with the application of knowledge gained from both basic science and clinical research. This ar ticle is composed of two parts. The first part reviews the biology and biom echanics of the injured anterior cruciate ligament and the basic science of reconstruction. In the second part, to be published later, current operati ve concepts of reconstruction, as well-as clinical correlations, are review ed. Summarizing the latest information on basic scientific as well as clini cal studies regarding the anterior cruciate ligament, this article intends to demonstrate the correlation between the application of basic science kno wledge and improvement of clinical outcomes.