Comparison of MRI versus Arthroscopy in Assessment of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries of The Knee Keeping Arthroscopy as Gold Standard

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings and Arthroscopy in diagnosing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, using Arthroscopy as the gold standard.

Methodology: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from February to August 2019. Clinical evidence of ACL injury was present in 127 individuals. They had an MRI as well as an arthroscopy. The diagnostic efficacy of MRI for ACL tears was evaluated, and its sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy were all calculated.

Comparisons between arthroscopic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings yielded three classifications: True Positive (MRI verified by Arthroscopy), True Negative (both MRI and Arthroscopy negative for ACL injury), and False Positive/False Negative (differences between MRI and Arthroscopy). The arthroscopic inspection and MRI findings were entered into SPSS 23 software for tabulation and analysis. When necessary, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used.

Results: The study of statistics Arthroscopy was performed on 127 patients, either for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. A correlation was found when all the data was analyzed and tabulated. The majority of the patients were males (85.8%) in the second and third decades of life. The sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV, and accuracy of MRI in diagnosing ACL injuries were 89.89%, 64.28%, 64.28%, 89.89%, and 84.25%, respectively.

Conclusion: MRI is an accurate and non-invasive modality for assessing ACL tears, showing good accuracy and high sensitivity. However, Arthroscopy remains the gold standard for diagnosing ACL injuries.