The PCL
Posterior cruciate ligament · ligamentum cruciatum posterius
The strongest ligament inside your knee, stopping the shin sliding backwards.
What it does
The PCL crosses the ACL inside the knee, running from the front of the femur's notch to the back of the tibia. It stops the shin being pushed backwards under the thigh and steadies the knee as it bends.
Surprising fact
A common way to injure the PCL is the "dashboard injury", when a bent knee hits the dashboard in a car crash and the shin is driven backwards.
Why it matters
Many PCL injuries heal well with physiotherapy alone, unlike the ACL, because the PCL has a better blood supply and the thigh muscles can compensate.
Nearby
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Sources
Drafted with AI help; awaiting a human fact-check against these sources.
Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.