Knee Research Paper

What exactly are knee tears? Well to understand what these TEARS are, first you have to be able understand the structural composition of the knee, what it does and how it does these things. http://www.healthpages.org/anatomy-function/knee-joint-structure-function-problems/ The knee is one of the most complex and important hinge type synovial joints, and the largest joint in the body. It has two articulations, one with the femur and the tibia, and the second with or between the femur and patella, or knee cap. The knee is made up of four bones; the femur, tibia, fibula, and the patella. These four bones give the knee stability, strength, and flexibility. The femur is the single bone of the thigh, it the largest and longest and strongest …show more content…
Tendons are flexible but inelastic cord of strong fibrous collagen fibers connecting the bone to the muscle. In the knee joints they serve to stabilize the knee, there are two main and important tendons in the knee. The main tendons in the knee are the quadriceps and the patellar. The quadriceps tendon connects the quadriceps muscles of the thigh to the kneecap and provides the power for straightening the knee, and also helps hold the patella in the patellofemoral groove in the femur. On the other hand the patellar tendon connects the patella or knee cap to the tibia or shin bone. Which makes no sense, that it is called a tendon because tendons connect bones to muscle, and the patella connects the knee cap and the shin bone which are both bones not a muscle or bone. Because of this connection between two bones the patellar tendon can also be classified as a ligament. A ligament is a short band of tough, flexible, fibrous connective tissue that connects two bones or cartilages or holds together a joint. While the ligaments do serve to hold two bones together they also serve to give strength and stability to the knee which by itself has very, very poor stability. In total there are four ligaments in the knee joint however because the patellar tendon connects two bone it can be classified as a ligament, raising the amount of ligaments to the grand total of five ligaments in the knee. The medial collateral ligament or the MCL which connects the medial side of the femur to the medial side of the tibia, hence the medial part, and it also limits the sideways motion of the knee. The lateral collateral ligament or the LCL which connects the lateral side of the femur to the lateral side of the fibula, hence the lateral in the name, and it also limits the knees sideways motion. The anterior cruciate ligament or the ACL