Fighting sports can be dangerous for your joints. In particular, judo fighters are at risk of injuring their shoulder and knee. They are the most vulnerable joints, because of the way throws and locks work.
What happened?
This is a 28 year old who twisted his knee while training judo. His mate tried a leg throw at him but his knee got blocked and his body went the other way.
His knee hurt really bad so they had to stop. During the next minutes, his knee started to really swell up. That is usually not a good sign, because it means there is fluid accumulating in your joint. However, it may mean several things: a meniscal tear, ligament tear, cartilage damage…
The next day things were not looking better, so he made an appointment for the doctor. The doctor examined his knee and felt that his knee was a little “loose”. However, it’s usually hard to tell after such a short time. The pain and the fluid makes it difficult to get a proper examination.
That’s why he ordered an MRI exam.
His MRI exam showed this:
There was no anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which means it had blown up—an ACL tear. Also, there was fluid in the joint (that’s the reason for the swelling) and there was bone contusion, which is very frequent after an ACL tear.
How do you fix it?
Because he is a young athlete, he is going to undergo surgery. ACL repair is a very common procedure nowadays. They take another one of your tendons and place it in ACL’s place. Sometimes, they may use a ACL graft from a dead donor, which is another good option.
Not everybody gets it fixed, though. If you don’t repair it, the knee will stay kind of loose. If you are not an active person, you may choose not to undergo surgery and that’s ok. You can walk normally without an ACL. However, young active people usually choose to repair it, to ensure knee stability.
Leave a Reply