new delhi while anterior cruciate ligament acl injuries are usually caused by stress exerted on the knees during sports and fitness activities in india road accidents are a major reason for this injury the latest victim of course being rishabh pant the cricketer recently underwent surgery on his knee for injury to the ligament which is one of the strong bands of tissue that connect the thigh bone to the shinbonetoday almost 60 of acl injuries coming to us is the result of accidents and not because of sports disclosed dr j maheshwari director jmvm sports injury centre he added that six out of 10 acl patients sustain injuries after falling from a bicycle or a scootermotorcycle as for sportspeople those who play games that require sudden stops or change in directions while running like in football and volleyball are more prone to ligament injuries than those who play cricket or other games he saidligament injury sustained in vehicular accidents is much worse due to the massive forces involved sometimes there are multiple ligament tears occasionally knee dislocation too recovery in accidental cases is very poor if the injuries are sportsrelated almost 70 of the patients can attain preinjury fitness levels but with accidentrelated ligament injuries recovery is relatively pooracl injuries in india are more commonly due to road accidents than in western countries where such injuries are reported mostly by sportspersons confirmed dr atul garg senior consultant orthopaedic sri balaji action medical institute of every 10 acl cases reported in hospitals six have been caused by accidents garg claimed we used to conduct 23 surgeries a month but now the procedure has become a routine one and we handle 1015 cases per month young patients prefer surgery rather than make changes in their lifestyle without subjecting the limb to a surgical procedure he addednot everyone needs surgery to treat an acl injury said dr vinay aggarwal consultant arthroscopy sports injury max multi speciality centre a person who is aged 40 years or above isnt very active or sporty and has a sedentary job can manage with exercises because acl injury is not life threatening he explained since athletes cant play sport properly with an unstable knee surgery is required for good functioning of their knees surgery stabilises the knee and prevents arthritis he said adding that women were more prone to acl injuries because of their wider pelvis and hyper flexibility of jointsacl injuries can however be career threatening for athletes pointed out dr gaurav prakash bhardwaj director sports injury psri hospital rehabilitation after ligament injury doesnt only include letting the new ligament get healed completely but also keeping the muscles and other tissues around the joint healthy and strong the muscles must also be trained to prevent further injuries and excessive load on the newly constructed ligament said bhardwaj there is no advantage in hurrying the treatment according to dr yash gulati senior consultant orthopaedics and joint replacement indraprastha apollo hospitals after acl reconstruction sportsmen can normally