A Cadaver Study of the Structures and Positions of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in Humans

Background: the anterior cruciate ligament (acl) is one of themajor knee structures. it consists of anteromedial bundle (amb) andposterolateral bundle (plb). rupture of the acl is one of the mostprevalent traumas among athletes. there are two ways to reconstruct therupture; single–bundle and double–bundle (db) reconstruction. precisestudy on bundles anatomy, the exact number of attachments and kneeflexion angle with an appropriate place of bundles and also choosing thebest angle for the grafts are so important in successful reconstructing ofthe bundles. in this research, the general attempt was to assess anatomyand the act of the acl is and bundles in iranian population.methods: we obtained twelve fresh?frozen cadaver knees (two females,ten males). the average age of them was 30 years; they were mostlybetween 27 and 34 years old. initially, skin, muscles, and patellar andarticular capsule were removed. then, bundle attachments, kneemovements in flexion angle, extension and stiffness of both bundles wereevaluated. thereafter, on 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180° angle knee flexionthe bundles degree stiffness evaluated in different directions. duringthe process, to measure bundles size, digital camera for photography,oblique for measuring the angles, and micrometer were utilized. from allnext of kin written consent testimonial form was obtained.results: in all knees, two bundles were identified as distinct. ambattachment location in the anterior region observed as semi?lunateand in one case, it was rounded. in all cases, two bundles of full kneeextension were paralleled, and the amb was anterior to the plb; withincreasing flexion angle, femoral attachment location of amb was inback direction and femoral attachment location of plb moved towardthe front direction. two bundles were in the most amount of crossstate, which the angle was 90°. from the stiffness point of view in all6 samples, the plb had the most tension in extension state, and theamb had the most tension in 120° flexion.conclusion: in the current study, we realized that the acl is a dbligament in iranian population. the amb in full extension has theleast stiffness and in 90° flexion has the most; the plb also in full kneeextension and in 160° flexion has the most and least stiffness, respectively.