Introduction/Objective. The knee joint is prone to injuries caused by direct
or indirect trauma. The meniscus and ligament injuries, cannot be completely
diagnosed with clinical examination, therefore we use additional
non-invasive and invasive diagnostic methods such as magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) and arthroscopy. The aim was to compare the accuracy of MRI
and objective knee findings based on arthroscopic examination in case of
meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament injuries. Methods. The study
involved 50 patients treated with elective surgery which mandatory involved
arthroscopic visualization of the knee structures. We compared the MRI
findings, obtained from different institutions, and arthroscopic knee
findings for all the patients involved in the study. Results. There were 50
patients included in the study with mean age of 31 years. MRI showed that
Anterior cruciate ligament was damaged in 41 patients, while arthroscopy
confirmed damage in 43 patients. Medial meniscus was damaged in 31 patients
on MRI and in 27 on arthroscopic examination. Lateral meniscus was injured
in 35 patients on MRI and arthroscopy showed damage in 32 patients. Using ?2
test we found no significant difference between MRI and arthroscopy as
diagnostic methods. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test shows similar results between
MRI and arthroscopy findings. Conclusion. A comparative analysis of MRI and
arthroscopy diagnostic value in case of anterior cruciate ligament, medial
meniscus and lateral meniscus injuries have shown that there is no
significant difference between these two methods.