Symptoms

Symptoms of a PCL injury may include:

• Mild knee swelling, with or without the knee giving way when walking or standing, and with or without limitation of motion

• Mild pain at the back of the knee that feels worse when you kneel

• Pain in the front of the knee when you run or try to slow down - This symptom may begin one to two weeks after the injury or even later.

Because the first symptoms of a PCL tear may not interfere significantly with an athlete's ability to play sports, many athletes with PCL injuries wait several weeks before they see a doctor. At that first office visit, the athlete may describe vague or nonspecific symptoms - for example, that the injured knee simply doesn't feel the way it should.