sports medicine

Multi-Ligament Knee Injury

advanced

6 min

28 marks

6 questions

Clinical Scenario

A 32-year-old male motorcyclist is brought to the Emergency Department following a collision. His right knee is grossly unstable, swollen, and deformed. Initial assessment reveals a GCS 15, hemodynamically stable patient. The knee shows circumferential swelling with ecchymosis, and there is no palpable dorsalis pedis or posterior tibial pulse. The limb is cool compared to the contralateral side. Anteroposterior stress testing shows gross laxity in all planes.

X-rays and CT angiography are pending.

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Clinical image for Multi-Ligament Knee Injury

Image source: Open Access medical literature (NIH/PubMed Central) • CC-BY License

Questions

Question 1 (4 marks)

What is the definition of knee dislocation? Describe the classification and associated injury patterns.

Question 2 (5 marks)

Describe the immediate management priorities for this patient. What is the vascular injury protocol?

Question 3 (6 marks)

What is your assessment approach once the vascular injury is addressed? How would you classify the ligament injuries?

Question 4 (5 marks)

Discuss the timing of ligament reconstruction. What is the role of early versus delayed surgery?

Question 5 (4 marks)

Describe the surgical principles for multi-ligament knee reconstruction.

Question 6 (4 marks)

What are the expected outcomes and complications of multi-ligament knee injury?