Article: Knee

Knee
Image:Knees x-ray.jpg
An x-ray of a human knee
Diagram of the knee
Latin	articulatio genu
Gray's	subject #93 339
System
Precursor	{{{Precursor}}}
MeSH	A01.378.610.450
Dorlands/Elsevier	{{{DorlandsPre}}}/{{{DorlandsSuf}}}

For other uses, see Knee (disambiguation).

In human anatomy, the knee is the lower extremity joint connecting the femur and the tibia.

Human anatomy

The knee is a complex, compound, condyloid variety of a synovial joint which hovers. It actually comprises two separate joints. The femoro-patellar joint consists of the patella, or "kneecap", a so-called "sesamoid bone" which sits within the tendon of the anterior thigh muscles, and the patellar groove on the front of the femur through which it slides. The femoro-tibial joint links the femur, or thigh bone, with the tibia, the main bone of the (lower) leg. The joint is bathed in a viscous (synovial) fluid which is contained inside the "synovial" membrane, or "joint capsule". The recess behind the knee is called the "popliteal fossa".

Ligaments

The human knee is associated with the following ligaments:

• anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The critically important ACL prevents the tibia from being pushed too far anterior relative to the femur.
• posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)
• capsular ligament
• ligamentum patellae
• medial collateral ligament (MCL a.k.a. tibial collateral ligament). The MCL protects the medial side of the knee from being bent open by a stress applied to the lateral side of the knee (a valgus force).
• lateral collateral ligament (LCL a.k.a. fibular collateral ligament). The LCL protects the lateral side from an inside bending force (a varus force).
• oblique popliteal ligament

Menisci

These are cartilaginous elements within the knee joint which serve to protect the ends of the bones from rubbing on each other and to effectively deepen the tibial sockets into which the femur attaches. There are two menisci in each knee, the medial meniscus and the lateral meniscus. Either or both may be cracked, or torn, when the knee is forcefully rotated and/or bent.

Movements

The knee permits the following movements: flexion, extension, locking, unlocking, and slight rotation. The ligaments and menisci, along with the muscles which traverse the joint, prevent movement beyond the knee's intended range of motion.

Injury

In sports such as wrestling, basketball, competitive swimming, American football, Australian rules, skiing and soccer, or other sports that involve great stress to the knees, it is common to tear one or more ligaments or cartilages. The anterior cruciate ligament is often torn as a result of a rapid direction change while running or some other type of violent twisting motion. It can also be torn as a result of being extended forcefully beyond its normal range, or as a result of being forced sideways. In such cases, other structures will incur damage as well. Especially debilitating is the unfortunately common triad of torn medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments and a torn medial meniscus. This typically arises from a combination of inwards forcing and twisting.

Before the advent of arthroscopy and arthroscopic surgery, patients having surgery for a torn ACL required at least nine months of rehabilitation. With current techniques, such patients may be walking without crutches in two weeks, and playing some sports in but a few months. In Australian rules football, knee injuries are among the most common, with a great deal of controversy caused in ruck contests, where the crashing of two knees during the leap has caused injuries to numerous players. This forced new rule changes in the AFL for the 2005 season.

In addition to developing new surgical procedures, ongoing research is looking into underlying problems which may increase the likelihood of an athlete suffering a severe knee injury. These findings may lead to effective preventive measures. Techniques to minimize the risk of an ACL injury while skiing are published by Vermont Safety Research

Animal anatomy

Look up knee in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In humans the knee refers to the joints between the femur, tibia and patella. In quadrupeds, particularly horses and ungulates the term is commonly used to refer to the carpus, probably because of its similar hinge or ginglymus action. The joints between the femur, tibia and patella are known as the stifle in quadrupeds. In insects and other animals the term knee is used widely to refer to any ginglymus joint.

See also

• Cartilage
• Knee Cartilage Replacement Therapy
• Knee examination
• Kneebar