Imaging Services
MRI of the Knee
Basics: What is an MRI of the Knee?
MRI is an effective method of imaging the soft tissue structures around bones, making knee MRI an important part of diagnosing knee problems following an injury.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging is considered medically necessary for the evaluation of the knee for the following indications:
- Meniscus tear, cruciate or multi ligament injury with pain and instability evidenced by:
- Pivot shift test, positive McMurray’s sign (meniscus injury)
- Lachman’s test (ACL injury), locking
- Suspected meniscus tear or ligament injury without instability non responsive to 4 weeks of physical therapy and medication.
- Avascular necrosis, knee after standard X-rays
- Intra-articular loose body
- Locking or significant instability
- Posteromedial cyst (Baker’s cyst) when ultrasound is non-diagnostic
- Persistent knee pain with persistent or recurrent swelling and/or joint tenderness refractory to 4 weeks of conservative treatment
Discussion of images above:
In the pictures above, the medial meniscus shows a small leading edge tear, as well as a joint effusion, which may explain this patient’s knee pain.