Guide to Diagnosing Meniscus Tears for Physical Therapists

By dpope2020

November 1, 2024

dan pope, dr. david middaugh, evidence-based medicine, fitness pain free, fitnesspainfree, Knee, knee pain, meniscus, meniscus exercises, meniscus injury, meniscus rehab exercises, meniscus surgery, meniscus tear, meniscus tear exercises, meniscus tear recovery, meniscus tear rehab, meniscus tear rehab exercises, meniscus tear symptoms, meniscus tear treatment, physical therapist, physical therapy, physiotherapy, torn meniscus, torn meniscus exercises

Diagnosing Meniscus Tears for Physical Therapists

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In today's video we go over Diagnosing Meniscus Tears for Physical Therapists: FPF Show Episode 150

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 1:04 What are some common complaints in patients with meniscal tears? (Acute tears)
  • 5:45 What is the presentation of patients with chronic meniscus tears? (Degenerative)
  • 10:55 What do the clinical practice guidelines recommend for diagnosis of meniscus tears?
  • 17:29 What patients have a meniscus tear, where is the pain located?
  • 19:02 What are the best special tests for diagnosing meniscus pathology?
  • 29:30 If we combine subjective complaints and objective tests does that improve validity of our diagnosis?
  • 30:14 Can we improve sensitivity and specificity by combining special tests?
  • 32:20 Should you send patients for imaging (MRI) after a meniscal tear?

100% certainty of a meniscus tear,

- Dan Pope DPT,OCS,CSCS

Show Notes / Relevant Articles:

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Thank you!

Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS

References: 

  1. Raj, M. A. (2023, July 17). Knee Meniscal tears. StatPearls [Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK431067/ 

  2. Chirichella, P. S., Jow, S., Iacono, S., Wey, H. E., & Malanga, G. A. (2018). Treatment of Knee Meniscus Pathology: Rehabilitation, Surgery, and Orthobiologics. PM&R. doi:10.1016/j.pmrj.2018.08.384

  3. Kujala UM, Kettunen J, Paananen H, et al. Knee osteoarthritis in former runners, soccer players, weight lifters, and shooters. Arthritis Rheum. 1995;38(4):539‐546. doi:10.1002/art.1780380413

  4. Beals CT, Magnussen RA, Graham WC, Flanigan DC. The Prevalence of Meniscal Pathology in Asymptomatic Athletes. Sports Med. 2016;46(10):1517‐1524. doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0540-y

  5. Logerstedt DS, Scalzitti DA, Bennell KL, et al. Knee Pain and Mobility Impairments: Meniscal and Articular Cartilage Lesions Revision 2018. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2018;48(2):A1‐A50. doi:10.2519/jospt.2018.0301

  1. Meniscus Image: file source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Gray349.png attribution: Henry Vandyke Carter, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Edited by Fitness Pain Free LLC
  2. Lateral Meniscus - Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lateral_Meniscus_Counterstrain.png Attribution: Powellle / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
  3. Meniscus and Knee - SOURCE: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Depiction_of_a_person_suffering_from_Knee_Pain.pngAttribution: https://www.myupchar.com/en / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)Edited by fitness pain free LLC
  4. Medial Meniscus Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medial_Meniscus_Injury.png Attribution: BruceBlaus / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) Edited by fitness pain free LLC
  5. Knee Joint Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:917_Knee_Joint.jpg Attribution: OpenStax College / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) Edited by fitness pain free LLC
  6. Gray Meniscus Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gray349.png Attribution: Henry Vandyke Carter / Public domain Edited by fitness pain free LLC
  7. Types of Meniscus Tears Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meniscus_tear_types.svg Attribution: Mikael Häggström / CC0 Edited by fitness pain free LLC