Microangiographic evaluation concerning the vascular supply of the medial collateral ligament of the knee joint

Because the vascularization of ligaments is an important factor in ligament healing we wanted to examine the vascularization status of the medial coll ateral ligament of the knee. The type of vascularization was examined by mi kroangiographie of 21 postmortem preparations. We could observe a vasculari zation from the proximal end of the ligament by one or two major vessels in all cases. These vessels were mostly localized in the ventral third of the ligament. From the proximal to the distal part of the ligament we found a decreasing density of blood vessels. We could not observe vessel free ligam ent areas. Due to this vascularization status we would advise the different iation of two ligament areas respecting the following thera py. Because of the good vascularization in the proximal part of the ligament we can accept good conditions concerning complete healing after a non-operative treatmen t and an operative therapy by suture or refixation. In the case of interlig amentous and distal ruptures operative reconstruction by sutures often is d ifficult and a conservative therapy leads to a high rate of poor results. T herefore we advise fibrin bonding in these ligament areas if a surgical pro cedure is indicated because of the high risk of vessel strangulation after suture.