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Unhappy triad

 
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A classic knee injury, first described in American footballers. The medial collateral ligament, the anterior cruciate ligament, and the medial cartilage in the knee are ripped apart. This is a devastating injury, usually caused by falling awkwardly after a tackle, and can put an end to a sporting career.

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Sports Science and Medicine: unhappy triad
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Classic knee injury, first described in American Football, in which there is tearing of the medial collateralligament, the anterior cruciate ligament, and medial cartilage.

Wikipedia: Unhappy triad
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 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2008)
Unhappy triad
Classification and external resources

Knee
ICD-10 S83.7

An unhappy triad (or terrible triad, or O'Donoghue's triad[1]) is an injury to the knee. It commonly occurs in contact sports (such as American football). The mechanism for this injury occurs when a lateral (outside) force to the knee is received while the foot is fixed on the ground in external rotation.

Contents

Structures in triad

This scenario causes an injury to three knee structures:

The inclusion of the lateral meniscus in the triad has been recently ascertained as it previously had been incorrectly postulated that the medial meniscus was the third component.[2]

Terminology

The term "unhappy triad" was coined by O'Donoghue in 1950.[2][3][4] However, since then, this term and the term "terrible triad" have also been used to describe several other combinations of joint injuries, including those of the elbow[5] and shoulder.[6]

The term "terrible triad" is also sometimes used in the popular press to describe conditions relating to pain, or even to refer to the MacDonald triad of sociopathic behavior.

See also

Additional images

Left knee-joint from behind, showing interior ligaments.

Capsule of right knee-joint (distended). Posterior aspect.

References

  1. ^ Shelbourne K, Nitz P (1991). "The O'Donoghue triad revisited. Combined knee injuries involving anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament tears". Am J Sports Med 19 (5): 474–7. doi:10.1177/036354659101900509. PMID 1962712. 
  2. ^ a b Barber F (1992). "What is the terrible triad?". Arthroscopy 8 (1): 19–22. PMID 1550645. 
  3. ^ O'Donoghue D (1950). "Surgical treatment of fresh injuries to the major ligaments of the knee". J Bone Joint Surg Am 32 (A:4): 721–38. PMID 14784482. 
  4. ^ O'Donoghue D. "The unhappy triad: Etiology, diagnosis and treatment". Am J Orthop 6: 242–7 PASSIM. PMID 14237439. 
  5. ^ Pugh D, McKee M (2002). "The "terrible triad" of the elbow". Tech Hand Up Extrem Surg 6 (1): 21–9. doi:10.1097/00130911-200203000-00005. PMID 16520629. 
  6. ^ Simonich S, Wright T (2003). "Terrible triad of the shoulder". J Shoulder Elbow Surg 12 (6): 566–8. doi:10.1016/S1058-2746(03)00216-7. PMID 14671520. 

External links

v • d • e
Injury: Dislocations/subluxations, sprains and strains (Sx3 where x=0 to 9, 830-848)
Neck (x=1)
Shoulder and upper arm (x=4)
Hip and thigh (x=7)
Knee and lower leg (x=8)
Ankle and foot (x=9)

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Food and Fitness. Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Unhappy triad".  Read more