This 2003 cadaveric study by LaPrade et al. is the first to quantify the attachment sites of the four main posterolateral corner (PLC) structures using 3D motion analysis. Ten fresh-frozen knees were dissected to measure the FCL, popliteus tendon, popliteofibular ligament, and lateral gastrocnemius tendon relative to specific bony landmarks. The goal was to provide the anatomic foundation for truly anatomic PLC repair and reconstruction.
Every PLC reconstruction performed before 2003 targeted the lateral epicondyle for the FCL femoral tunnel, because that is where anatomy textbooks said it attached. This paper proved that landmark is wrong by an average of 3 mm posteriorly and 1.4 mm proximally.
When you reconstruct the PLC, use the lateral epicondyle as your starting reference, then target 1.4 mm proximal and 3.1 mm posterior for your FCL femoral tunnel. Your popliteus tendon tunnel sits approximately 18.5 mm anterior to that point — a distance consistent enough across specimens to use intraoperatively.
At the fibula, place your FCL tunnel 8.2 mm posterior to the anterior fibular head edge. Both divisions of the popliteofibular ligament land within 3 mm of the fibular styloid tip. Reconstruct the posterior division preferentially: it is larger in every specimen.
This paper is the direct anatomic blueprint that enabled LaPrade's subsequent anatomic PLC reconstruction technique. Now the standard approach for combined knee ligament injuries involving the posterolateral corner.
This 2003 cadaveric study by LaPrade et al. is the first to quantify the attachment sites of the four main posterolateral corner (PLC) structures using 3D motion analysis. Ten fresh-frozen knees were dissected to measure the FCL, popliteus tendon, popliteofibular ligament, and lateral gastrocnemius tendon relative to specific bony landmarks. The goal was to provide the anatomic foundation for truly anatomic PLC repair and reconstruction.
Every PLC reconstruction performed before 2003 targeted the lateral epicondyle for the FCL femoral tunnel, because that is where anatomy textbooks said it attached. This paper proved that landmark is wrong by an average of 3 mm posteriorly and 1.4 mm proximally.
When you reconstruct the PLC, use the lateral epicondyle as your starting reference, then target 1.4 mm proximal and 3.1 mm posterior for your FCL femoral tunnel. Your popliteus tendon tunnel sits approximately 18.5 mm anterior to that point — a distance consistent enough across specimens to use intraoperatively.
At the fibula, place your FCL tunnel 8.2 mm posterior to the anterior fibular head edge. Both divisions of the popliteofibular ligament land within 3 mm of the fibular styloid tip. Reconstruct the posterior division preferentially: it is larger in every specimen.
This paper is the direct anatomic blueprint that enabled LaPrade's subsequent anatomic PLC reconstruction technique. Now the standard approach for combined knee ligament injuries involving the posterolateral corner.