ACL Surgery With a Peroneus Longus Graft: Will Taking a Tendon From My Ankle Weaken It?
By Dr Markandaiya Acharya, Orthopaedic Surgeon Picture a 24-year-old on a Sunday morning football ground. He plants his foot, turns to chase the ball, and feels something give way inside his knee. There is a pop. Within an hour the knee is swollen like a small melon. A few weeks later the swelling has settled, but the knee has not. It buckles on the stairs. It wobbles when he turns quickly. The MRI report says what he feared: anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear . He accepts that he needs surgery. Then the surgeon says something that stops him: "We will take a tendon from the outer side of your ankle to build your new ligament." And the question I hear in my clinic almost every week follows immediately: "Doctor, my knee is already damaged. Will you now spoil my ankle as well?" It is a fair question. It deserves an honest, evidence-based answer. A large 2026 analysis gives us one. A New Ligament Has to Come From Somewhere A torn ACL rarely heals on its own ...