A case of combined posterolateral corner (PLC) injury and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury treated by arthroscopic reconstruction

Abstract

The combined injuries involving anterior cruciate ligament and posterolateral corner are the rarest among knee injuries with an incidence of about 9.1% and there is a paucity of literature focussing on its management. Here we have an interesting case of one of the rarest knee injuries, combined PLC and ACL injury of knee. Patient presented with pain in right knee for 3 months. Patient gave an alleged history of road traffic accident with an injury sustained to the right knee 3 months back. He underwent surgery immediately after fall elsewhere, now presented with complaints of pain over right knee and difficulty in walking. All the clinical features to substantiate the diagnosis such as antalgic gait, varus thurst gait, Lachman test positive, Dial test positive were present. On Varus stress, lateral Opening was typically present. He was assessed and treated surgically by adopting Laprade’s technique of arthroscopic reconstruction. The range of movements was restored and the patient became symptom free after the surgery. As combined injuries involving PLC &ACL are rare, we think that they are often missed out from diagnosis resulting in failure of the management. Hence they are to be evaluated and timely surgical intervention is required.