Role of MRI in detecting cruciate ligaments tears, confirmed subsequently with arthroscopy

Due to its anatomical structure, its exposure to external forces and the functional demands placed on it, Knee Joint is one of the most commonly injured joints.

To observe the sensitivity and specificity of MRI in detecting cruciate ligaments tears, and confirmed with arthroscopy.

It was conducted at Ramkrishna Care Hospital, Raipur. 67 patients with complaints of knee pain with history of knee injury between the age group of 15–60 years were selected for study.

61 had ACL tear on MRI out of which 58 showed similar results on arthroscopy. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for MRI for ACL came out to be 100%, 66.67% and 95.52% respectively. Similarly out of 2 patients diagnosed with PCL tear on MRI examination only 1 had positive result arthroscopically giving sensitivity of 50%, specificity of 90% and accuracy of 98.5%.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging has highly accurate for pre-operative diagnosis of ligamentous injuries of knee joint and can be used as a screening tool before arthroscopic examination.