Scientists discover a new body part in the KNEE - and it could explain why so many injured joints give way during exercise



Dr Steven Claes and Professor Johan Bellemans found a new ligament

It has been called the anterolateral ligament and 97 per cent of people are thought to have one in the centre of the joint



Ligament may be responsible for injured knees giving way during exercise



The surgeons who found it are now researching surgical techniques to repair damaged anterolateral ligaments



Two knee surgeons in Belgium have found a new body part - a previously unknown ligament in the human knee.



The surgeons, at University Hospitals Leuven, believe their finding could explain why people with repaired knee injuries find the joint sometimes gives way during exercise.



Orthopaedic surgeons Dr Steven Claes and Professor Johan Bellemans conducted research into anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in an attempt to discover why this injury can cause the knee to give way.



Two knee surgeons in Belgium have found a previously unknown ligament in the centre of the human knee (pictured horizontally). The new ligament - marked by the arrows below the blue box - has been called the anterolateral ligament and 97 per cent of people are thought to have one. (LCL stands for lateral collateral ligament)

The researchers, who have been investigating the injuries for four years, began by studying an 1879 article by the French surgeon Paul Segond who speculated about the existence of an additional ligament located in the centre of the front part of the knee.



They dissected 41 knees that had been donated for medical research and discovered that the speculation was correct in all but one of the knees.



The Belgian surgeons are the first to identify the ligament, which has been named the anterolateral ligament (ALL).

They believe it is present in 97 per cent of human knees.

Having discovered the ligament, they set about trying to establish the role it plays in causing injured knees to give way.



They discovered that this phenomenon is caused by injury to the ALL.



This finding could revolutionise the way in which knee injuries are treated - Dr Claes and Professor Bellemans are currently working on a surgical technique to correct ALL injuries.



The surgeons’ findings, published in the Journal of Anatomy, have been praised by the Anatomical Society as ‘very refreshing’.



The newly discovered ligament is thought to be responsible for injured knees giving way during exercise - a previously unexplained problem experienced by many people with anterior cruciate ligament tears

It commended the researchers for reminding the medical world that, despite the emergence of advanced technology, our knowledge of the basic anatomy of the human body is not yet complete.



ACL tears are common among athletes in sports such as football, basketball and skiing.



The ACL is one of the four major ligaments in the knee and is critical to providing stability in the joint.



A tear tends to cause swelling and pain in the knee as well as instability.

