title: A novel approach to the dissection of the human knee.
abstract: The knee is one of the most frequently injured joints of the human body with injuries affecting the general population and the athletic population of many age groups. Dissection procedures for the knee joint typically do not allow unobstructed visualization of the anterior cruciate or posterior cruciate ligaments without sacrificing the collateral ligaments. In many cases, the relationships of the intraarticular structures are lost as dissection systematically removes superficial structures to gain access to deeper structures. The authors present an alternative technique for dissection of the human knee joint that allows maximal visualization of intraarticular structures such as the cruciate ligaments and menisci with minimal disturbance to the tibial and fibular collateral ligaments, thus preserving the relationships of the ligamentous and intraarticular structures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Rangos School of Health Sciences, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15218, USA. clemente@duq.edu
authors.forename: F Richard
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Clemente
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fabrizio
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shumaker
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education*; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D004210:Dissection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D017888:Medial Collateral Ligament, Knee / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D016119:Posterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013334:Students