Pattern of Menisci and Cruciate Ligaments Injury of Knee Joint in MRI and Arthroscopy

Abstract

Introduction: The traumatic or internal derangement of the knee requires certain investigations for the establishment of diagnosis. With advances in technology and because of high resolution and accuracy a MRI scan is now a standard for evaluating the knee injuries before a subsequent arthroscopy. When used properly after a thorough clinical examination, an MRI can prove to be an efficient and non-invasive diagnostic tool in the management of knee injuries. On the other hand, arthroscopy is considered as the gold standard method for the diagnosis of such injuries. 

Methods: The prospective hospital based study was conducted on fifty one symptomatic patients with knee injuries over a period of one year. All the patients underwent MRI of the knee joint on Philips Achieva 1.5 Tesla MRI Machine in Bir Hospital, NAMS and they were evaluated and cross checked by faculty members. After proper evaluation, diagnostic arthroscopy was done, if needed therapeutic intervention was also performed. The sensitivity, the specificity, the positive predictive value and the negative predictive value of MRI for MM, LM, ACL and PCL were calculated.

Results: A total of 51 patients were included with a mean age of 30.92 years. Left knee was predominantly involved in 56.1% of the cases with 43.9% involvement of right knee. Overall, MRI showed a total of 32 medial menisci tears and 8 lateral menisci tears. There were 5 false negative cases for MMT. MRI revealed tears of ACL in 44 patients and no patient with PCL tear. Arthroscopy revealed ACL tears in 44 cases and confirmed no patient with PCL tear.

Conclusions: MRI is a noninvasive, useful and reliable diagnostic tool for evaluating knee injury and it can be used as a first line of investigation in patients with knee injury.