Publication:

Clinical, magnetic resonance imaging and arthroscopic findings in diagnosis of meniscal tears: a prospective study

Background In developing countries like India the need for cost conscious medical practice has a major role in the economy of the country. The extensive use of costly investigative modalities puts huge burden on the patient needing proper medical care. This study is undertaken to assess the role of different diagnostic tools like clinical diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and arthroscopy in diagnosis of meniscal tears.

Methods A prospective study was conducted among 90 individuals with knee injuries due to various causes attending orthopaedic department of The Oxford Medical College and research centre, Bangalore from October 2018 to May 2019. All patients aged 18 to 60 years with history of knee injury who underwent clinical examination, radiographic examination, MRI and arthroscopy. The data was entered in MS Excel and analysed using SPSS.

Results The study consisted of patients aged between 18-60 years (mean age 32.5 years). Out of which 59 were male and 31 were female. There were 54 patients with suspect diagnosis of medial meniscal tear and 36 with lateral meniscal tear. The difference in diagnostic values between the clinical andMRI findings in diagnosing the medial and lateral meniscal injuries were minimal.

Conclusions Ligament injuries of knee are more common with sports injuries and high velocity trauma. A well-trained surgeon can be more reliable than MRI in diagnosing the ligament injuries. Since MRI is expensive, it can be skipped and used only in more doubtful and complex knee injuries.