Posterior cruciate ligament injury is not common among the knee injuries, as it is a very strong ligament of the body. It keeps the tibia from moving backwards too far and the injury is usually caused by direct pulling force or jostling, such as the cases of bent knees falling on the ground or bending the knee excessively. Anterior cruciate ligament, before resulting in the injury of posterior cruciate ligament, is normally first injured through pulling and dragging. After the injury, the knee joint will swell and there is significant difficulty to move. Patients also have intense pain and in the more severe case, the knee will sink when lying flat and bending the knee over to 90 °.
The treatment principles of the posterior cruciate ligament tear is anti-inflammation, restoring the motion range of the joint knee and recovery. Please see the following table for more details:
Stage |
Goal |
Period after Injury |
Physical Therapy |
Exercise |
Self-Exercise |
Activities Allowed |
1 |
- Reduce swelling - Keep knee joint Straight - Knee joint can bend to 100° |
0-2weeks |
-Cold therapy -Electrotherapy -Increase the range of motion of patellofemoral joint |
-Quadricep exercises -Lower limb stretching -Indoor cycling |
-Lie flat and do quadricep exercises, such as bending knee and sliding with heels, stretching hamstring, etc -Support the calves with tiptoes and ankles -Cold therapy |
-Try to walk normally |
2 |
-Reduce swelling -Stretch and bend the knee joint thoroughly |
2-4weeks |
-Cold Therapy -Electrotherapy - Increase the range of motion of patellofemoral joint -Strengthen the stretching and bending of knee joint |
-Quadricep exercises Such as crouching, climbing up and down the ladder -Hamstring exercises, such as indoor cycling and standing on a foot, etc -Aquatic Therapy |
-Quadricep skill exercises, such as doing a quarter squat, standing on one foot, sliding with heels and cold therapy, etc |
-Swimming (kick lightly) -Try outdoor cycling |
3 |
- Stretch and bend the knee joint thoroughly -Squat -Dynamic proprioceptive training -Try jogging and skill training |
4-6weeks |
-Cold Therapy -Electrotherapy -Stretching |
-Exercise hamstring and hip with equipment -Use indoor bikes, treadles and treadmills, etc -Leg press and standing calf raise exercises -Isometric exercisers |
-Repeat the above exercises -Replace bilateral exercises with unilateral exercises -Cold Therapy |
-Jogging -Swimming -Outdoor Cycling -Skill training, such as jogging forward, backward, side jog, jumping, jogging and kicking reversely |
4 |
-Leg endurance training -Special skill training of a particular sport |
6-8weeks |
-Sports Massage |
-Use indoor bikes, treadles and treadmills, etc -Isometric exercises |
-High intensity strength training
|
-Rejoin the team practice skills of a sport and try to participate in competition |
These are the treatment principles of posterior cruciate ligament tear. But if the posterior cruciate ligament injury is associated with other tissues, you may need to have surgery to rebuild the ligament. The recovery period will be relatively longer and it takes approximately 6 to 9 months to get back to the competition.