A patient with knee pain after athletic injury has a physical examination that suggests medial meniscus tear. Knee radiographs are normal. You order:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

CT does not have the soft-tissue contrast resolution to show a meniscus tear. Arthrography would not be appropriate except in the rare case of an athletic injury in a patient with a pacemaker, intracranial aneurysm clip, or some other contraindication to MRI, and even then would ideally be followed by immediate post-arthrogram CT. Knee ultrasonography is incorrect because of the technical limitations of ultrasound; it does not show menisci.

A Patient with Knee Pain After Athletic Injury Has a Physical