Tensile strength of the cranial cruciate ligament in cattle.

The ultimate tensile load of the cranial cruciate ligament of normal adult cattle was measured. The ultimate tensile load was related to the animal's live body weight and to the cross-sectional surface area of the cranial cruciate, ligament. Four groups of joints were used which were based on angle of the joint and time after slaughter that the test was made. Repeatability was determined by using paired joints from the same animals. The results indicated a high degree of correlation between the tensile load of the cranial cruciate ligament and the animal's live body weight and the cross-sectional area of the ligament. There were no significant differences between the 4 groups tested and the repeatability was high for the tensile load, the tensile load per unit body weight, and the tensile load per unit cross-sectional area.