Meniscal Tears Examination & Tests -

Educational video explains about knee pain, meniscal tears, examination and tests in a simple and easy way and tells you all you need to know about it. Dr. Ebraheim animated video describes knee pain examination of the meniscus. Knee pain diagnosis and knee pain treatment .It describes knee injury meniscus tear, meniscus pain, meniscus tear symptoms .it also describes meniscus tear tests and meniscus tear surgery and recovery. The meniscus is an important cushion which lies between the femoral condyles and the tibial plateau. When the meniscus is injured, there is usually a history of a twisting injury, and the patient will have pain on either the medial or lateral side of the knee. The patient may have some swelling and some mechanical symptoms such as clicking, locking and catching. So the patient will come to the doctor, and the doctor will examine the patient. During the exam, you may find some effusion, but the most important finding will be tenderness along the medial and the lateral joint line, especially if the patient has pain when you feel that joint line, then you suspect a meniscal tear. The problem with that is the pain may come from other causes, such as bursitis, arthritis, or ligamentous injury. The most important test is the presence of redness at the joint line. Range of motion is usually normal. So you suspect a meniscal tear and start doing the provocative test. Be sure to worn the patient that he may experience some pain. The provocative tests all have the same idea. One is done with the patient standing, the other with the patient is lying in the prone position and the last is done with the patient lying in the supine position. The whole idea is to trap the meniscus between the tibia and the femur with rotation and twisting and that will allow us to evaluate the lateral meniscus and the medial meniscus. Basically, if you get a click or a pop with pain when you do these maneuvers, that is suggestive of meniscal tear. • The Mcmurray’s Test: the most popular one of the rest of the provocative tests. • The Apley compression test: the patient should be lying prone with the knee bent to 90°, this will allow the weight of the tibia and foot to press down on the joint. • Thessaly Test: the patient will stand on the affected limb and bend the knee about 20°, make sure you hold the patient’s hands so the patient doesn’t fall, the patient twist with the knee internal or external rotation about three times, a positive test is with the experience of a click or a pop with pain in the knee. • These tests are not specific for meniscal pathology, and MRI is the procedure of choice to confirm meniscal tear. • If you have a bucket handle tear that will block full extension of the knee, then you will need to get an MRI early.