Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Children

• Preparing for your Clinic Visit
• Preparing for your Surgery Day
• Procedures
• What to Expect After Surgery
• Follow Up Appointments
• Support Numbers

Posterior cruciate ligament injuries most often occur in children who participate in high-speed sports, such as basketball and soccer. These injuries occur more commonly in teenagers than in younger children. Often, in children younger than the age of 12, the bone where the PCL attaches breaks off. As PCL injuries commonly occur through traffic and industrial accidents, the incidence of these injuries are very low in children.

Surgery is not usually necessary to treat PCL injuries but if an injury displaces the piece of bone with the PCL, your child may have surgery to reattach it again.

The outcome of the treatment is dependent on age factor. Younger children may develop arthritis symptoms later in their life if surgical treatment is not given. In adult’s surgery involves PCL reconstruction, however in children this surgery is still under controversy because of a risk of developing physeal (growth plate) injury. Growth plate also called as the epiphyseal plate or physis is the area of growing tissue made up of cartilage (rubbery material) found at the ends of the long bones in children.