What exactly is performed during surgery?
The torn ACL cannot be sewn back together. Instead, a tendon is substituted for the ACL ligament. This can either be a piece of patellar tendon or hamstring from your body, or a piece of donor tissue. Once the tendon is harvested, it is attached to two long sutures and pulled into place through small holes that the surgeon will make in the knee. It is held in place with two screws while the holes in the bone heal. The screws are normally made of calcium absorbed by the body over time. Once the surgeon decides the knee is sufficiently stable, the knee is closed and dressed.
