[How good are clinical investigative procedures for diagnosing meniscus lesions?].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate different clinical meniscus tests.


METHODS
During 13 months we evaluated 64 patients with a suspected meniscus lesion in a prospective study. The age ranged from 16 to 76 years (average: 38.5 years). 66 % were male patients. Between the clinical examination and the arthroscopy there was no additional trauma to the knee. All patients were clinically examined in a standard manner by two independent orthopaedic surgeons. Clinical findings of the menisci were documented according to 12 well-described and commonly used meniscus tests. The arthroscopy was performed by a single surgeon who was not aware of the results of the clinical examination. This surgeon documented the intraarticular findings in a standardized operating report. A meniscus lesion/degeneration was documented when this was evident either by inspection or by palpation.


RESULTS
The results showed either clinical meniscus tests with a high specificity and a low sensitivity or tests with a high sensitivity, but only a low specificity. We were not able to identify meniscus tests which showed both a high sensitivity and a high specificity.


CONCLUSIONS
Even with access to MRI the clinical findings in knee joint with injured menisci still have a high diagnostic value. However, it seems to be necessary to combine different tests.
Jerosch
J
J
Klinik für Orthopädie und Orthopädische Chirurgie Johanna-Etienne-Krankenhaus, Neuss. j.jerosch@jek-neuss.de
Riemer
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D000070600:Tibial Meniscus Injuries; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices