by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Knee arthroscopy and ACL reconstruction

Ask during the case

  1. Making the portals: "Where does the anteromedial portal go, and which skin nerve are we trying to miss?"
  2. During notch preparation: "Show me the resident's ridge on the screen. Which side of it does the femoral tunnel go, and why?"
  3. Before reaming the tibia: "Which landmarks tell you the guide is in the middle of the tibial footprint?"

Point at: the lateral wall of the notch on the monitor: the ridge, the footprint behind it and the back wall.

End of day: "Redraw the portals, the notch wall and the plateau for me." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

The night before. They prep alone, redraw at turnover, and get a cold check tomorrow morning. They won't see these questions.

Open the student page

Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.