Posterolateral Corner Knee Injury
The posterolateral corner of the knee is a complex area of the knee. The diagnosis of acute and chronic posterolateral knee injuries is also complex and requires various examination tests and imaging studies. Dr. Amit recommends to all patients with a complete, or Grade III injury, to undergo posterolateral reconstruction. The timing of this surgery is crucial and ideally, acute injuries should be treated within the first three weeks with either a repair or an anatomic reconstruction of the injured structures.
Description of Posterolateral Reconstruction
Dr. Amit will assess the patient’s knee alignment with a long leg x-ray. Dr. Amit usually recommends a combined hybrid approach of repair for those repairable structures and a reconstruction of midsubstance tears of the posterolateral corner for acute injuries; while in chronic injuries he generally performs a posterolateral reconstruction.
In chronic injuries, there is a very high risk of having any soft tissue posterolateral reconstruction stretch out in the face of varus alignment. Thus, for chronic posterolateral knee injuries, it is recommended to perform a proximal tibial opening wedge osteotomy, first, and to have the osteotomy heal, then assess if they still have functional limitations after the osteotomy heals.
Post-Operative Protocol for Posterolateral Knee Reconstruction
The postoperative rehabilitation for these injuries includes immediate range of motion within the “safe zone” decided by the surgeon at the time of surgery, to be non-weight bearing for six weeks postoperatively and to avoid isolated active hamstring exercises for the first four months postoperatively to avoid significant stress to the healing posterolateral corner repair and reconstruction procedures.
Why choose Kneecares for your Posterolateral Knee Reconstruction
The diagnosis and treatment of these injuries require the expertise of highly trained and experienced medical personnel such as those at the KNEECARES. We have treated patients with these injuries for over one decade.
