ACL surgery is a procedure that doctors use to replace a torn ligament in your knee.
The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is a band of tissue inside your knee. It gets damaged when it stretches or tears. ACL injuries are common among people who play sports because they make movements that can put a lot of stress on the knee, like:
If you strain or slightly tear your ACL, it may heal over time with your doctor’s help and physical therapy. But if it’s completely torn, you may need to have it replaced especially if you’re young and active or an athlete who wants to keep playing sports. If you’re older or less active, your doctor might recommend treatments that don’t require surgery.
When your doctor removes your torn ACL, they put a tendon in its place. (Tendons connect muscle to bone.) The goal is to get your knee stable again and give it the full range of motion it had before you got hurt.
When the tendon is put into your knee, it’s known as a graft. Three types of grafts can be used with ACL surgery:
Your doctor uses a tendon from somewhere else in your body (like your other knee, hamstring, or thigh).
This type of graft uses tissue from someone else (a deceased donor).
This is when artificial materials replace the tendon. Silver fibers and silk were among the first ones used (in the early part of the 20th century). More advanced options are available now, like carbon fiber and Teflon, but researchers are still working to find the best material for ACL replacement.
