Knee Flashcards
Most common sports related injury:
meniscal tears
Isolated tears present with:
Intermittent clicking and eventually chronic blocking or locking of knee joint motion
Effusion
Pain
Radiographs should be ordered:
joint effusion after direct blow or fall
inability to walk without limping
palpable tenderness over patella or fibula
inability to flex knee to 90
Standard modality for evaluating menisci
MRI
Most common meniscal tear:
vertically oriented through the tissue
Bucket handle tear:
A longitudinal extension of vertical tear
Degenerative tears in older age groups usuall
horizontally oriented
Tears of collateral ligaments:
Patient presents after an acute episode with pain, joint effusion, and instability upon physical examination via ligamentous stress testing
LCL injured from
varus force
MCL injured from
valgus force
Whast are MCL tear often associated with?
tears of joint capsule and medial meniscus (to which it is firmly attached)
What will severe injuries also damage?
anterior cruciate ligament
MOI to PCL:
external forces that strike anterior aspect of knee, as in dashboard injuries
MOI to ACL:
non-contact forces that place great valgus and rotary stresses on knee
What image is best to demonstrate cruciates?
sagittal MRI
