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J Knee Surg 2013; 26(S 01): S094-S099
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1322597
Case Report
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Combined ACL-Posterolateral Corner Injury in a Skeletally Immature Athlete

Randy Mascarenhas
1   Section of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
,
Gregory Bonci
2   School of Medicine, Cornell University, New York, New York
,
Karl F. Bowman
3   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, UPMC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
,
Brian Forsythe
4   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, Chicago, Illinois
,
Christopher D. Harner
3   Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, UPMC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

29 September 2011

30 May 2012

Publication Date:
30 July 2012 (online)

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Abstract

Combined injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterolateral structures of the knee is a rare yet increasingly recognized clinical entity. In children or adolescents with open growth plates, this injury pattern is considered to be even more rare than in adults. Because knee ligaments are felt to be stronger than the adjacent physeal plates, the energy of pathologic translational and rotatory stress commonly results in fracture or avulsion injuries rather than ligamentous injury. The appropriate treatment for either injury remains controversial in the skeletally immature patient, with no previously reported case of this combined injury pattern in a patient with open physes. We present a case of a 12-year-old boy who sustained an ACL-posterolateral corner injury while playing football, and subsequently underwent acute repair of the posterolateral structures with a plan to perform ACL reconstruction at a later date.

Keywords

ACL - pediatric - posterolateral corner - athlete
 

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