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A Normal Knee
The above discussion tends to undermine the complexity of a joint as it talks only about two bones moving in relation to each other and thus producing the motion. The actual anatomy is much more complex as it involves all the soft tissue in and around the joint that may/may not aid in bringing about the motion. Besides the bones, a joint also consists of muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage etc. Besides the tissues mentioned, there are other connective tissues like Synovium that also form a part of the joint. Above all these, there always is the vascular and nervous supply that spans the entire human body and is as important as any other structure/organ/tissue inside the body. For a joint to function all these tissues are required because a bone cannot move on its own. The movement is brought about by contraction and relaxation of muscle fibres. To enable the muscles to contract or relax, vascular and nervous supply is a must. To facilitate the movement and to maintain the range of motion without bringing about the wear and tear of the articulating bones, we need the soft tissues like Cartilage and Synovium. Ligaments and Tendons bring about the firm attachment of either bone-to-bone or muscle-to-bone and provide stability to the joint over entire range of motion.
Having appreciated the importance of other tissues present inside the joint, we will proceed to learn which tissues are present inside the Knee joint and what role each of them performs. Though this unit will try to cover all the tissue of importance in Arthroscopy, it will not be exhaustive and further reading of the subject from other literature available is strongly recommended.
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