84 Rajpal et al., Int J Med Res Health Sci. 2014;3(1):84- 87 International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences www.ijmrhs.com Volume 3 Issue 1 (Jan- Mar) Coden: IJMRHS Copyright @2013 ISSN: 2319-5886 Received: 15 th Nov 2013 Revised: 11 th Dec 2013 Accepted: 18 th Dec 2013 Research article ROLE OF MRI IN EVALUATION OF PAINFUL KNEE *Rajpal Yadav 1 , Sushil G Kachewar 2 1 Chief Resident, 2 Professor, Department of Radio-diagnosis, Rural Medical College, PIMS (DU), Loni, Maharashtra, India *Corresponding author email: raajpaalyadaav@rediffmail.com ABSTRACT Introduction: Requests for knee Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are most often made when the patient presents with a painful knee. This pain might be due to trauma or infection or inflammation. Complete clinical examination is not possible in such situations as the patients cannot co-operate due to severe pain. There comes the role of noninvasive multiplanar imaging. Hence this study was undertaken to evaluate how MRI can evaluate painful knee. Methods: 50 consecutive patients who were referred for MRI evaluation of painful knee were included in this study. Specific findings that explained the cause of pain were compiled. Results: In this present study of 50 patients, and 17 were females (34%) and 33 were males (66%).The mean age was 36.70± 13.14 years. Traumatic causes outnumbered non traumatic etiologies of painful knee. Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was the commonest soft tissue abnormality encountered. Partial tears were more common than complete tears. Tibial attachment was commonly affected than femoral attachment. Injured posterior horn of the medial meniscus and medial collateral ligament, were the commonest associated findings. Conclusion: MRI evaluation in patients with painful knee is of vital importance, as MRI can demonstrate the exact nature and extent of bony as well as soft tissue abnormality. Multiplanar imaging capacity and noninvasive nature of MRI enable a satisfactory diagnosis in such patients in whom a complete clinical examination is almost impossible due to pain. Keywords: Painful Knee; MRI; Ligaments, Imaging. INTRODUCTION Painful knees can bring tears to our eyes. It may either be of traumatic origin or non traumatic origin like infection or inflammation. Examination by a surgeon or orthopedician is usually not conclusive to pinpoint the exact lesion causing pain. 1, 2 Hence optimum treatment is hampered. Therefore non invasive imaging which can demonstrate the underlying pathology without any significant discomfort to the patient is needed. 3 This study was therefore undertaken to analyze the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pinpointing the cause of painful knee. The aim was to find common imaging findings in our setup. MATERIALS AND METHODS Inclusion criteria: Patients of either sex from >20years, having acute or chronic painful knee were included in this study, history of painful knee was noted but as such patients cannot be accurately evaluated clinically due to their pain. Exclusion criteria: Patients who could not co-cooperate for MRI examination, patients have undergone prior surgical procedures and who had metallic implants or metallic clips in situ were also excluded as these are contraindications for MRI evaluation. Methodology: Philips Achieva 1.5Tesla High Gradient MRI Scanner was used for evaluating 50 consecutive patients having DOI: 10.5958/j.2319-5886.3.1.017