Free Custom «Knee Injuries» Essay Paper

The age of the patient, history of knee pain and its location are vital factors when diagnosing knee injuries. A medical practitioner should find out when the knee pain started and its location plus the age of the patient. Previous knee injuries can also affect the prognoses in addition the information on the response of the injured knee to activities should be sought. A medical practitioner should also find out what aggravates the pain as well as what relieves the pain. The location of swelling in the knee should be noted including whether the stiffness of joint. The other important information includes constitutional symptoms such as fever.

Symptoms

Pain is the most common symptoms, when a patient gets any form of knee injuries. When the ACL joint is injured, pain is, therefore, the most immediate result. The pain is experienced within a short period, which is normally with a few hours after the ACL ligaments have been injured. Patients may also experience swelling, loss of movement discomfort when moving, tenderness in joints and become unstable in motion (Calmbach & Hutchens, 2003). Fractures, on the other hand, which cause cracks in the knee joint bones, can be indicated by abnormal motion, pain, swelling, crepitation, deformity or ecchymosis (Jackson, O'Malley, & Kroenke, 2003).

Abnormal symptoms

A patient can express knee pains when there are no injuries or damages on the knee as an indication of a hip problem. An x-ray can indicate signs of neoplasm, effusion, fracture or loose bodies in the intra-articular cavity. These findings constitute abnormal symptoms in knee injuries.

Comparison of normal and abnormal symptoms

A patient can experience knee pains without an apparent injury or damage to the knee, which can be as a result of other ailments such as abnormal hips.

Cultural, ethnic differences

Sports men and women have high recorded incidences of knee injuries. In sporting activity such as basketball, football, skiing there are high incidences of knee injuries than other sporting activities. In the USA African Americans are more prone to knee injuries that other races because of their high involvement in sporting activities (Peat and et al, 2006).

Conclusion

Diagnosis of knee injuries is first established by a patient experiencing pain in the knee joint. However, in order to tell whether a person has torn his or her ACL ligaments the pain is experienced within a short period of the injury. This pain is normally experienced within a short period of the injury, which is normally with a few hours after the damage of ACL ligaments. Additionally patients also experience swelling either a few hours after the injury or this can be experienced immediately. To differentiate ACL ligament injuries, medical professionals need to perform MRI scans. Torn ACL ligaments can also be diagnosed through several other tests. These tests include the Lachman’s test, X-ray or physically examining the knee joint.

In addition, a torn ACL ligament causes increased anterior movement. Such movement can, therefore, indicate abnormalities in the knee joint clearly pointing to torn ACL ligaments. The endpoints of the knee also become soft and mushy in comparison to a normal knee joint, another sign of torn ACL ligaments. Finally, the damaged ACL ligaments, causes the tibia bones to move forward despite the knee joint being straight, which indicates to the physician of the abnormality in the knee joint. When the injury involves a fracture or cracks in the knee joint bones, the symptoms include abnormal motion, pain, swelling, crepitation, deformity or ecchymosis. To correct the damages resulting from knee injuries, the extent of the injury determines the treatment that a patient is provided. Most treatments involve immobilizing the injured leg or provision of analgesic medication. Severe injuries to the knee may require surgery to correct the anomalies or the damage done by the injury.