Pressure Measurements On Medial And Lateral Tibial Plateaus After Injury Of The Medial Collateral Ligament

Objective: Medial and lateral tibial plateau biomechanical characteristics after partial and complete medial collateral ligament(MCL)injury was used to explore the MCL's function in maintaining knee stability.Methods: Five fresh-frozen cadaveric knees were used as intact MCL models(Group A),superficial MCL injury models(Group B)and complete MCL injury models(Group C).Pressure on the medial and lateral tibial plateaus were compared under 500-to1500-N loads at 0°,30° and 45°.Results: Pressure on the medial tibial plateau was greater than on the lateral tibial plateau with an intact MCL at 0°,30° and 45° of flexion.Pressure on the lateral tibial plateau significantly increased with partial and complete MCL injuries.Pressure on the medial tibial plateau decreased.At 0°,pressure on both tibial plateaus differed significantly between the groups(P< 0.05)with applied 500-to1500-N loads.At 30° and 45° of flexion,pressure on both tibial plateaus differed significantly between groups A and B and groups A and C(P< 0.05)with applied 500-to 1000-N loads.There was no significant difference between groups B and C(P> 0.05).At 30° and 45° of knee flexion,the pressure on both tibial plateaus differed significantly between the groups(P< 0.05)with applied 1500-N load.Conclusions: Pressure on the lateral tibial plateau was significantly increased and pressure on the medial tibial plateau was decreased after MCL injury.The MCL plays a significant role in knee stabilization,especially in preventing knee valgus.