The anterolateral ligament (ALL) is a ligamentous thickening of the capsular ligament on the outer side of the knee, in front of the lateral collateral ligament.
Page updated March 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)
 |
The anterolateral ligament (ALL) and its relationship to the other lateral structures (lateral collateral ligament and popliteus tendon) |
The re-discovered ligament
Despite earlier decriptions in the literature, this structure was not widely recognised by knee surgeons until 2013 when evidence for its anatomy and importance was presented in a PhD dissertation.
Since then many knee surgeons have felt that it is the 'missing link' in understanding anterolateral rotational instability - the kind of knee instability that gives a very positive result when the surgeon performs the pivot shift test while assessing the anterior cruciate ligament. Damage to the anterolateral ligament is thought to explain why some patients still have rotational instability even after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
-
Quote from peer-reviewed paper:
"....Numerous studies....establish its potential role as a stabilizer for anterolateral rotational instability....ALL reconstruction can be a solution for residual rotational instability after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction...."
Citation: Park JG, Han SB, Rhim HC, Jeon OH, Jang KM. Anatomy of the anterolateral ligament of the knee joint. World J Clin Cases. 2022 Jul 26;10(21):7215-7223. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i21.7215. PMID: 36158026; PMCID: PMC9353924.
2023 -