Question

A lacrosse player comes limping into the athletic training room with assistance from a coach. He is holding his leg in slight hip and knee flexion. There is a large bulge in the proximal thigh. During the exam, the athletic trainer requests the athlete to extend his knee as he sits on the edge of a taping table. He is able to partially straighten his leg, although there is pain down the anterior thigh area with the attempt to move it. What does the athletic trainer suspect is wrong?

Answer 1

The athletic trainer likely suspects a knee injury involving the anterior cruciate ligament or the quadriceps muscle, which is causing pain and preventing full knee extension.

Step-by-step explanation:

The athletic trainer suspects that the lacrosse player may have sustained an injury to the structures supporting the knee, possibly involving the ligaments, muscles, or meniscus. Given the mechanism of injury described, involvement of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is possible, especially if the player experienced a forceful blow to the knee or made a quick change in direction causing twisting and hyperextension of the knee joint.

A quadriceps injury may also be suggested by the difficulty and pain experienced during knee extension and the presence of a large bulge in the proximal thigh. Injuries to the ligaments, such as the ACL, collateral ligaments, and menisci, can lead to pain, swelling, and instability of the knee, all of which could prevent the athlete from fully extending the leg.