Table 21.
Accuracy Summary – Musculoskeletal Clinical Indication for Diagnostic Ultrasound of the Knee Region
| Target Condition | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Tendons and soft tissue | Grade |
| Full thickness quadriceps tendon tears | 3 |
| Patella tendinopathy | 3 |
| Baker’s Cyst | 2 |
| Medial patella plica syndrome | 2 |
| Meniscal cyst | 2 |
| Ganglion cyst | Unknown |
| Hamstring/ITB/gastrocnemius injury | Unknown |
| Hoffa’s fat pad syndrome | Unknown |
| Pes anserinus tendinobursitis | Unknown |
| Internal knee derangement and associated injury | |
| Full ACL tears | 0a |
| Partial ACL tears | 0 |
| Medial meniscus tears | 0a |
| Lateral meniscus tears | 0a |
| LCL injury | 0a |
| Popliteal injury | 0a |
| MCL injury | Unknown |
| PCL injury | Unknown |
| Nerves | |
| Common peroneal neuropathy | 2 |
ACL anterior cruciate ligament; PCL posterior cruciate ligament; LCL lateral collateral ligament; MCL medial collateral ligament; ITB iliotibial band
Unknown: No diagnostic accuracy studies found
Grade 0a: Not indicated as a definitive diagnostic tool for ligamentous and meniscal tears of the knee, however may have a role as an on field, point-of-care screening tool
Grade 0: Not indicated
Grade 1: Conflicting evidence (test results should be interpreted with caution)
Grade 2: Equivalent to other imaging techniques (other techniques might provide significant information)
Grade 3: First choice technique (other techniques rarely provide more information)