DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2013.v01i06.0107

Pages: 1172-1176

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a crucial role in diagnosing knee pain etiology, particularly in cases of suspected meniscus and cruciate ligament injuries. MRI is accurate, safe, non-invasive, and aids in avoiding unnecessary arthroscopies. It is noninvasive, does not involve ionizing radiation and has multiplanar capability with excellent soft tissue demonstration. Therefore, MRI has become the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of the painful knee following injury. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Dept. of Radiology & Imaging, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh from July 2012 to June 2013. The study population consisted first 100 cases with suspected traumatic knee joint injuries and with supportive MRI findings. Hospital based study enrolled for study after obtaining an informed consent. Patients coming to BSMMU referred to the department of radio diagnosis with suspected traumatic knee joint injuries and with supportive MRI findings. Results: In this study of 100 patients, 75 patients were male while 25 patients were female. The most common age group affected was 15-25 years. In this study, the most common injury was anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear of which complete tear was more common. Posterior cruciate ligament tears (6.5%) were less common. Among the meniscal injuries medial meniscal tears were more common than lateral meniscal tear and horizontal tears were more common in both. Other abnormalities like discoid meniscus (1 patient), hemarthrosis (1 patients), joint effusions (81 patients), bony contusions and other myotendinous tears were accurately detected and characterized with the help of magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: MRI is an excellent, noninvasive, radiation free imaging modality with multiplanar capabilities and excellent soft tissue delineation. It can accurately detect, localize and characterize various internal derangements of the knee join