Abstract
Introduction: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the knee stabilizer and acts to prevent excessive anterior mobility as well as rotational movement. The ACL is extending from the lateral femoral condyle to the anterior intercondylar area of tibia. During excessive movement or abnormal mobility affecting the knee joint, the ACL is under tension and prone for injury. The injured ACL was managed by surgery as it was an option for treatment owing to its poor vascularity. The distribution of the blood vessels within the ACL was not clear and only few studies reported in the past. The present study focused on distribution of blood vessels in the ACL. Subjects and Methods: The ACL microvasculature was assessed using 48 cadaveric ACL tissues using immunohistochemistry. The antibody against the transmembrane protein VE-Cadherin was targeted to study the blood vessels. Results: It was observed that the middle part of the ACL was less vascular compared with the peripheral parts of ACL. Conclusion: The knowledge of the ACL vasculature may help in planning surgeries of ACL to reduce postoperative complications.
Highlights
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the knee stabilizer and acts to prevent excessive anterior mobility as well as rotational movement
By using VE– cadherin the specific antibody against the blood vessels, we studied the ACL vasculature
The present study documented that the ACL vasculature using VE-Cadherin antibody
Summary
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the knee stabilizer and acts to prevent excessive anterior mobility as well as rotational movement. The Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is acting as one of the knee stabilizing structure and prevents excessive anterior mobility and abnormal rotation of the knee joint. The ACL received its blood supply from the middle geniculate artery, a branch of popliteal artery Its subdivides when it reaches the synovial ligament of the ACL. They described that ACL has less intraligamentous blood vessels than the surrounding connective tissue.[4] Peterson et al come out with the results of avascular region in the distal part of the ACL and more vascular region in the remaining parts of ACL.[7] From the previous studies it was observed that, some part of the ACL is avascular. The barrier maintained by the VE–cadherin can be disrupted by the bacterial invasions and can precipitate sepsis, oedema and haemorrhages.[11,12] The regions of ACL with more vascularity can be repaired with the biological augmentation procedure and the avascular part can be corrected with the tendon replacement surgery
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