Anterior cruciate ligament injury joint with the anterior cruciate ligament running from the front of the tibia to the back of the femur, and the posterior cruciate ligament running from the back of the tibia to the front of the femur. The anterior cruciate ligament prevents the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur and provides rotational stability. There are also two C-shaped structures made of cartilage called the medial meniscus and lateral meniscus that sit on top of the tibia in the knee joint and serve as cushion for the bones. Most ACL injuries can be diagnosed by examining the knee
Stifle joint the joint into two functional units—the 'femoromeniscal joint' for flexion/extension movements and the 'meniscotibial joint' for rotation—a function analogous to that of the disc dividing the temporomandibular (jaw) joint. The menisci also contain nerve endings which are used to assist in proprioreception. The menisci are attached via a variety of ligaments: two meniscotibial ligaments for each meniscus, the meniscofemoral from the lateral meniscus to the femur, the meniscocollateral from the medial meniscus to the medial collateral ligament, and the transverse ligament (or intermeniscal) which runs between the two menisci. There are between one and four sesamoid bones associated with the