Anterior Cruciate Ligament Claims

It gives the knee joint stability and helps control the back-and-forth movement of the lower leg.

ACL injuries can occur during sports. If the ACL is torn the knee can become unstable and lose its full range of movement. It is important that the injury is diagnosed and treated correctly.

Surgery may be needed to treat an ACL injury and a delay in the provision of surgery could lead to further damage to the knee if it becomes unstable in the meantime. Surgical repair is sometimes done by grafting new tissue onto the ligament.

The reconstruction of the ACL usually involves drilling two tunnels through bone. One tunnel goes through the femur and the other traverses the tibia. A hamstring graft is then used (either taken from the patient or using synthetic material) and is threaded through these to replicate the natural function of the ACL.

It is obviously extremely important that the position of the tunnels is accurate to enable the hamstring graft to recreate the precise bio-mechanical effect of the patient’s ACL.

Often the cases we see involve the angle of the tunnels being beyond an acceptable limit. Experts often use the Blumensaat line as reference point  – a landmark for orientation and guidance of femoral tunnel placement during the ACL procedure.

Claims for medical negligence can arise where an ACL injury is misdiagnosed or there are delays in treatment which are below a reasonable standard leading to a worse outcome in terms of functioning of the knee. Claims can also arise out of misplacement of the graft during repair surgery.