New parts discovered in the human knee

Two surgeons in Belgium have discovered a new body part: a previously unknown ligament in the human knee.

Dr. Steven Claes and Professor Johan Bellemans of Leuven University Hospital (Belgium) believe their new discovery may explain why people who have treated knee injuries sometimes get loose joints during exercise. practice sports.

Two Belgian orthopedic surgeons have conducted research on cases of fracture of the frontal cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee, in an attempt to discover why this lesion can cause " malfunction". pillow.

Two Belgian surgeons have discovered the existence of a new type of ligament, named after the anterior ligament (ALL) , at the human knee.

ACL is one of the four key ligaments in the knee and holds a key position in maintaining a steady state of the knee joint. This ligament break, which is very common in athletes playing sports such as football, basketball and ski (moving sports on snowboards), tends to cause swelling and pain in the knee, as well as leading to a loss of stability. This injury also often has to be treated with surgery.

The four-year study began with a thorough review of an 1879 article by French surgeon Paul Segond, who had surmised the existence of another ligament in the center of the front of knee.

Two researchers who operated 41 knees were donated to scientific research and discovery, and Segond's conjecture was correct in most of these samples, except for one exception.

Belgian surgeons are the first to identify this ligament, and name it the anterior ligament (ALL). They believe, ALL ligaments exist in 97% of people's knees. They also determined that the loss of knee pain or "slump" was due to damage to ALL ligaments.

The discovery could create a revolution in how to treat knee injuries. Dr. Claes and Professor Bellemans are currently working on surgical techniques to correct lesions to ALL ligaments.