David N Garras, Steven M Raikin, Suneel B Bhat, Nicholas Taweel, Homyar Karanjia
BACKGROUND: Achilles tendon ruptures are common in middle-aged athletes. Diagnosis is based on clinical examination or imaging. Although MRI is commonly used to document ruptures, there is no literature supporting its routine use and we wondered whether it was necessary. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We (1) determined the sensitivity of physical examination in diagnosing acute Achilles ruptures, (2) compared the sensitivity of physical examination with that of MRI, and (3) assessed care delays and impact attributable to MRI...
August 2012: Clinical Orthopaedics and related Research