COMPARISON OF CATHETER AND CONVENTIONAL ARTHROSCOPY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF KNEE DERANGEMENTS

The diagnostic efficiency of the Optical Catheter System (OCS), which uses a 1.7-mm arthroscope, was compared with that of conventional arth roscopy in 50 patients with various knee derangements in standard arth roscopic conditions. Correct diagnoses were obtained with the OCS in 9 8% of anterior cruciate ligament derangements-92%-98% of those involvi ng the medial and lateral meniscus, respectively-and 96% of cartilage disorders. No false-positives were noted for anterior cruciate ligamen t and meniscus injuries. False-negatives were caused by abundant intra articular bleeding (no tourniquet was applied) and peripheral meniscus tears and false-positives by synovial superposition resulting in a mi staken diagnosis of patellar chondromalacia. The OCS proved a good dia gnostic tool. Its employment, especially in an outpatient setting, sho uld be restricted to a small number of patients and entrusted to exper t arthroscopists.