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Review
. 2022 Feb;30(2):178-183.
doi: 10.1016/j.joca.2021.09.009. Epub 2021 Sep 29.

Mechanical symptoms and meniscal tear: a reappraisal

C G McHugh  1 , E G Matzkin  2 , J N Katz  3
Affiliations
Review

Mechanical symptoms and meniscal tear: a reappraisal

C G McHugh et al. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To identify and summarize literature related to the association between mechanical symptoms (catching and locking of the knee), the presence of meniscal tear, and outcomes after arthroscopic surgery.

Design: We searched PubMed and hand-searched reference lists for relevant articles and selected 38 for analysis.

Results: Mechanical symptoms appear to have modest sensitivity (ranging 0.32-0.69), specificity (ranging 0.45-0.74) and positive predictive value (ranging 0.75-0.81) for meniscal tear. There is also very little evidence to suggest that those with mechanical symptoms experience better outcomes after arthroscopic surgery.

Conclusion: Our examination of the literature does not support the hypothesis that mechanical symptoms are related to the presence of meniscal tear or portend better outcomes after arthroscopic surgery.

Keywords: Arthroscopy; Mechanical symptoms; Meniscal tear.

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References

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