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How important is the ACL in the knee? What exactly does it do?

The ACL, or the anterior cruciate ligament is one of four ligaments that help support and stabilize the knee. Without the ligaments, there would be nothing that could help you control the knee's movements. The ACL is responsible for pulling on the tibia, or shin bone. When you straighten your leg, the ACL pulls on the muscles to stabilize the tibia, preventing it from moving too far. If you have a ruptured or torn ACL, that stability isn't there and your knee may tend to give way all of a sudden.

Reference: 

Jin Hwan Ahn, MD, et al. Comparison of Revision Surgery with Primary Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Outcome of Revision Surgery Between Different Graft Materials. In American Journal of Sports Medicine. October 2008. Vol. 36. No. 10. Pp. 1888-1896.

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