Stress Views should be Standard of Care for all ACL Deficient Knees with Asymmetric Varus Laxity on Examination.

Abstract

A small degree of increased varus laxity in acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) disrupted knees can often be felt on initial examination. Why this occurs is not always clear and is usually felt to be related to some degree of fibular collateral ligament (FCL) injury. However, there may be another structure that demands our attention in an ACL-deficient knee with more laxity than isolated ACL injuries, but less laxity than combined ACL and FCL injuries. That structure is the anterolateral complex (ALC), including the anterolateral ligament (ALL), the iliotibial band, and quite importantly, Kaplan's fibers.