The Sports Physical Therapy Podcast · Mike Reinold

Multiligament Knee Injuries with Jill Monson - Episode 43

·59 min·3 clips

Jill Monson calls complex knee patients “the Island of Misfit Toys” and says they are not “a cute ACL.”

Mike Reinald opens by welcoming listeners into the sports physical therapy podcast and introducing Jill Munson, the lead physical therapist for the complex knee injury clinic in Dr. Robert LaPrade’s practice at Twin Cities Orthopedics in Minnesota. Jill brings research experience and national meeting and publication experience to the discussion. The episode focuses on multiligamentous knee injuries and the rehab problems they create. The conversation moves quickly into the details that matter most for early recovery. A major thread is how clinicians think about motion, stability, and patient confidence at the same time. Jill explains the value of getting a strong volitional quad contraction and full extension back. She also walks through the limits around flexion goals, where 90 degrees is useful and 120 degrees or more is even better when the knee allows it. Effusion matters, but fear can be just as limiting. The episode makes clear that these patients often feel physically and emotionally rattled by what has happened to their knee. The discussion stays grounded in practical treatment decisions. Jill describes how education and supported positioning can help patients move without feeling like the knee is going to give way. She notes that some patients can visually and physically feel a subluxation, which makes hesitation understandable. The conversation also covers the special considerations that come with different structures involved in the injury. Mike keeps pulling the thread back to what therapists need to reconcile when multiple ligaments are involved. There is also attention to nerve issues and surgical context. Jill notes that if the nerve is out, it is out, and that a neural lysis may be done during surgery to free scar tissue around it. The episode does not rush through these points. It lets the implications sit, which gives the discussion a thoughtful pace and a clinical seriousness that fits the topic. Mike’s reactions underline just how intense these cases can feel even inside a professional conversation. The result is a detailed, clinician facing episode that treats complex knee rehab as a layered problem rather than a simple protocol. It is informative, direct, and built around real decision making. Jill’s explanation style turns difficult anatomy and rehab choices into something listeners can actually use.

As heard by us

A practical look at the early rehab decisions that shape complex knee injury care.

The episode stays on multiligamentous knee injuries and the early rehab tradeoffs that come with them. Jill Munson, the lead physical therapist for the complex knee injury clinic in Dr.

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You want the rehab logic behind multiligament knee injuries.

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