Dr. Johnson describes the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Hi, I am Dr. Darren Johnson from the University of Kentucky where I currently serve as the professor and Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery and the Director of Sports Medicine.
So the ACL, or the anterior cruciate ligament, is a soft tissue structure that lives inside your knee, and it connects the thighbone or the femur to your shinbone, which is called the tibia. And that ligament helps prevent those two bones rotating on each other which is abnormal. So if you don’t have that ligament, if you tear that ligament and you do not have it fixed, then what happens is the two bones, your thighbone and your shinbone, are going to abnormally rotate on each other during certain activities.
About Dr. Johnson, M.D.:
Dr. Darren L. Johnson, M.D., received his medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles and his fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Johnson is currently Professor and Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director of Sports Medicine at the University of Kentucky. His clinical interests include arthroscopy, knee and shoulder reconstruction and the double-bundle procedure for ACL repair.
Dr. Johnson was named among the Top Doctors for Women by Women’s Health magazine in 2008.