The story of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction--Part 1

Once upon a time the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) enjoyed a relatively unchartered existence, when only a fall from a jousting horse or chariot might have sent a knight or gladiator into early retirement due to an unstable knee. In today's world of high speed travel and an ever increasing number of sports enthusiasts, injuries of the ACL are almost common place with a yearly incidence of about 35 per 100,000 of the population. Although we have known about the existence of the cruciate ligaments since they were first described by Galen over 2000 years ago, awareness of their function and the consequences of their loss were not appreciated until much later. Robert Adams observed the first clinical case of an ACL tear in 1837 but treatment in those days was largely conservative and surgery was reserved for life threatening conditions as mortality was high. The first ACL repair was performed in 1895 by Mayo-Robson of Leeds and was followed by Grekow and Hey Groves who initiated ACL reconstruction with autologous tissue between 1914 and 1920, almost as we know it today.