The anterolateral ligament (ALL) is a
ligament
A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...
on the
lateral
Lateral is a geometric term of location which may also refer to:
Biology and healthcare
* Lateral (anatomy), a term of location meaning "towards the side"
* Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle, an intrinsic muscle of the larynx
* Lateral release ( ...
aspect of the human
knee
In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...
,
anterior
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
to the
fibular collateral ligament.
Perhaps the earliest account of the ALL was written by French surgeon
Paul Segond in 1879, in which he described a ligamentous structure between the lateral femur and tibia.
Claes and
Bellemans (2013) found that the ALL
originates at the
lateral epicondyle of the femur
The lateral epicondyle of the femur, smaller and less prominent than the medial epicondyle, gives attachment to the fibular collateral ligament of the knee-joint. Directly below it is a small depression from which a smooth well-marked groove cur ...
, and
inserts at the anterolateral aspect of the proximal
tibia
The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...
.
However, Vincent et al. (2012) reported the origin to be the
lateral femoral condyle.
Clinical relevance
The ALL, which has been suggested to occur in 33-97% of the human population,
seems to stabilize
medial rotation of the knee.
However, the anterior cruciate ligament is the most important contributor to rotatory knee stability. It is uncertain if an isolated anterolateral ligament injury with an intact anterior cruciate ligament injury leads to knee instability. This topic is being hotly debated and researched. The "pivot shift" phenomenon in
anterior cruciate ligament injury
An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...
patients may be ascribed to additional trauma to the ALL
or other structures in the anterolateral knee.
The
Segond fracture is probably an
avulsion of the anterolateral ligament.
In such injuries, fragments of the
lateral tibial condyle of the knee are torn from the bone by the soft tissue structures of the anterolateral knee.
The ALL can be visualised in most patients on MRI with its attachments to the lateral meniscus body and further tibial insertion on the coronal sequences.
References
External links
* – "Major Joints of the Lower Extremity: Knee Joint"
* – "Superior view of the tibia."
* – "Medial and lateral views of the knee joint and cruciate ligaments."
* ()
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anterolateral ligament
Knee ligaments