Clinical management of osteoporotic vertebral fracture treated with percutaneous vertebroplasty.

BACKGROUND

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a noninvasive diagnostic tool may help clinicians in the evaluation of injuries to menisci and ligaments.

PURPOSE: this study assessed the associations between type of trauma to knee joint, bone bruise, fracture and pathological joint effusion with injuries to menisci and ligaments of knee joint.

METHODS

we reviewed knee joint MRI of 175 patients aged less than 45 years old who were referred to MRI center of our University.

RESULTS

statistical analysis showed that tearing of medial meniscus (MM) is significantly more common in sport related trauma (p= 0.045) but tearing of medial collateral ligament (MCL) is significantly more common in non-sport related trauma (p= 0.005). Existence of bone bruise in knee MRI is negatively associated with tearing of medial meniscus (MM) (p=0.004) and positively associated with tearing of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) (p=0.00047) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) (p = 0.0001). Existence of fracture is associated with decreased risk of the tearing of ACL and MM (p=0.04, p=0.001 respectively). Pathologic joint effusion is significantly more common in ACL and MCL tearing (p=0.0001, p=0.004 respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

as diagnostic clues, bone bruise, fracture and joint effusion may help radiologists for better assessment of injury to menisci and ligaments in MRI of patients with knee trauma.