Reliability Assessment of Arthroscopic Findings Versus MRI in ACL Injuries of the Knee

INTRODUCTION This study was conducted to analyze the reliability of clinical diagnosis in ACL tear injuries. MATERIAL AND METHODS All patients attending our clinic with knee pain from 2009 to 2013 underwent systematic and thorough clinical assessment. From one hundred and three patients with knee problems in 73 were arhroscopicaly diagnosed ACL tears. All these patients underwent therapeutic arthroscopic knee surgery. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed during this procedure. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were calculated based on these arthroscopic findings. RESULTS The accuracy of clinical diagnosis in our study was 82.5% for ACL tears. Our study revealed high sensitivity and specificity and almost high accuracy for ACL injuries of knee joint in comparison to arthroscopy. MRI is an appropriate screening tool for therapeutic arthroscopy, making diagnostic arthroscopy unnecessary in most patients. CONCLUSION Magnetic resonance imaging is accurate and non invasive modality for the assessment of ligamentous injuries. It can be used as a first line investigation in patients with soft tissue trauma to knee.