KT 1000 anymore and primarily used it for research purposes)

The Lachman is a combination of how far the tibia translates forward but more importantly how firm the endpoint or stop is.

The pivot shift is a little more dependent on the patient relaxing but if positive the knee ACL is 100% torn, unstable And would benefit from a reconstruction based on the patient’s activities


If the patient has a noncontact injury generally a Valgus hyperextension injury hears or feels a pop and cannot continue playing and gets a large effusion within six hours by that history 80% have a torn ACL

Hers another review study that basically states there are several studies out there that show exam is as good if not better than MRI for ACL tear

I Generally have more confidence in my exam for an ACL tear than an MRI As the previous study showed exam was near 100% and the MRI was only 80% for complete tears

Granted I was doing exam for ACL tears before MRIs became prevalent and prior to higher quality images. Now we have much better magnets with dedicated Musculoskeletal radiologist it’s rare but I like the MRI to assess meniscus Cartlidge issues


I always tell our residents you always need to exam the normal need knee first and the advantage of exam and KT1000 and exam you get a good a side to side comparison. And off in times you have the examined hundreds of normal niece before you get the feel for it

Their Summary:

Clinical Bottom Line
The evidence supports the use of clinical diagnostic tests when diagnosing an ACL tear. Clinical diagnostic tests are equally or more diagnostically accurate as an MRI in the diagnosis of an ACL tear.