The nonoperative treatment of grade I and II medial collateral ligament injuries to the knee.

A prospective investigation covering 8 years (1971 to 1978) at a major university was undertaken involving the nonoperative management of medial collateral ligament injuries to the knee. Rigid diagnostic criteria were used for each injury prior to inclusion in a program of functional rehabilitation without cast immobilization. Eighty-nine fresh ligamentous injuries were reviewed. Thirty-eight knees required surgery. The remaining 51 knees were classified as isolated Grade I or Grade II injuries. Forty-two (80%) successfully completed the program of rehabilitation. Nine (20%) were considered failures. These were attributed to inadequate diagnoses during the early period of the study. Average time required for the athletes to return to full competition was 21 days (range of 9 to 32 days.)