RESUMEN
It' s assumed that, while tear of meniscus and ligament causes joint line tenderness; locking or giving way and instability of the knee joint may have other reasons too. In this study, clinical and arthroscopic findings in knee internal derangements were compared. This descriptive study was done in the year 2004 - 2005 On 92 patients [100 knees] refered to knee clinic of Ghaem Hospital with signs and symptoms of meniscus and ligament tear of knee, and admitted in orthopedics ward. All patients were re-examined clinically [with and without GA] and with arthroscopic method, and were managed definitely. Patients with intra - articular fractures and chronic synovitis excluded from the study. Individual, clinical and arthroscopy data were gathered in a questionnaire and processed by Excell software, descriptive statistics, and frequency distribution tables. The age of patients was between 13-71 [mean of 32.1] years, and duration of symptoms was from 15 days to 2 years [with mean of one year]. 60% of patients had stable and 40% unstable knee. Common findings with arthroscopic examination of these patients were: Meniscus tear [75%], degenerative changes [23%], synovial hypertrophy [4%], loose body [4%], osteochondral fractures [2%]. In 16% of the knees, no pathological finding was noted. Thirty seven persent of patients who had knee locking in clinical examination, had normal meniscus in arthroscopy and 34% of patients who had giving way had normal meniscus arthroscopically. Only 27% of patients who had joint line tenderness had tear of the meniscus in knee arthroscopy. In clinical examination 57% of patients had positive Mac Murray test. Only 33% of false negative results for this test was found after arthroscopy. Arthroscopy of the knee is the best method for diagnosis and treatment of the meniscal injuries, but clinical examination is a reliable method to detect these knee injuries