Thessaly Test: Its Diagnostic Accuracy for Clinical Diagnosis of Meniscal Knee Injuries Keeping MRI as Gold Standard

Aim: To know/determine the diagnostic accuracy of Thessaly test and its application for clinical diagnosis of meniscal knee injuries keeping magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as gold standard. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from Oct 9th 2015 to April 9th 2016 in the Department of Orthopedics and Trauma, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. A sample of 223 as per WHO criteria were selected vide non probability consecutive sampling technique. With defined inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria and informed consent the data was collected by applying Thessaly test followed by MRI. Results: In sample of 223 patients presented male: female was 2.53:1 whereas average age was 31.55 +/- 10.83 years. Sensitivity and Specificity of Thessaly test was found to be 95.1% and 78.9% respectively while Positive predictive value (PPV) and Negative predictive (NPV) value was 95.7% and 76.9% respectively. The positive likelihood ratio is 4.36 where as negative likelihood ratio is 0.06. Area under ROC curve 0.870, all of these results are pointing towards the efficiency of Thessaly test. Conclusion: It can be concluded that Thessaly test at angle of 20 degrees (knee flexed) is a sensitive and specific clinical test to reach diagnosis of meniscal knee injuries. Thessaly test can be safely used for screening of patients for suspected meniscal tears followed by MRI for confirmation.