title: Audit of knee injuries seen in a sports medicine clinic.
abstract: In order to assess the management of knee injuries in a sports medicine clinic, an audit was performed of all new patients who attended the clinic over a 12-month period. Of the 167 new patients seen, 76 (46%) had sustained knee injuries. Of these, 43 (57%) were treated in the sports medicine clinic and 33 (43%) were referred for arthroscopic assessment. The maximum waiting time from the time of referral was 3 weeks, with 85% of patients seen within 1 week and 92% within 2 weeks. Arthroscopy was performed on 28 (85%) of the 33 patients referred, and the positive correlation between the sports clinic diagnosis and the arthroscopic diagnosis was 64%. Of the 33 patients referred for arthroscopy, 28 (85%) had sustained acute knee injuries while five (15%) had been treated at other hospitals before referral to the sports medicine clinic. A National Health Service sports medicine clinic is an effective means of treating knee injuries, provided that access to arthroscopy is readily available.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Hartlepool General Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Packer
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: McLatchie
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bowden
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lennox
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D008485:Medical Audit; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013178:Sports Medicine