Just when you think you’ve got it covered, new information comes to light. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steven Claes and Dr. Johann Bellemans and their colleagues in Belgium made a groundbreaking announcement recently in The Journal of Anatomy. The surgeons, from the University Hospitals Leuven, revealed the discovery of a new knee ligament, the anterolateral ligament (ALL). The ligament was first acknowledged by French surgeon Segond in 1879, but it had never been formally identified.
The newly-identified anterolateral ligament stabilizes the knee, but can be easily injured, contributing to knee problems. Its discovery will help medical researchers better understand how the human knee works and improve future orthopedic knee surgery.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Dr. Claes, but he called the discovery, “an important step forward” in knee research.
Read more about the surprising announcement in this New York Times health blog by Gretchen Reynolds.