Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)can help your healthcare provider find the source of your knee problem.Compared to a normal knee, an MRI of an abnormal knee will show telltale problems such as fluid buildup or damage to the ligaments or cartilage.
MRIs alone can’t diagnose a knee problem, but they can provide strong evidence to support a diagnosis. Healthcare providers will often use an MRI to help pinpoint the cause of your pain and also to help direct your treatment plan.
This article discusses MRIs and how they can help diagnose and treat a knee problem. It also goes over some of the conditions that an MRI can help identify and what they look like on an MRI picture.
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What Does a Knee Injury Look Like on an MRI?
An MRI can help your healthcare provider find abnormalities in your knee. An MRI can be more useful than an X-ray since certain problems such as cartilage or ligament damage don’t show up on an X-ray.
How Does an MRI Work?An MRI creates a magnetic field that causes water molecules in tissue, bones, and organs to orient themselves in different ways. These orientations are translated into images that can help a healthcare provider understand what is going on in your body.
How Does an MRI Work?
An MRI creates a magnetic field that causes water molecules in tissue, bones, and organs to orient themselves in different ways. These orientations are translated into images that can help a healthcare provider understand what is going on in your body.
Meniscus Injuries
Themeniscusis a wedge of cartilage within the knee that helps cushion, stabilize, and transmit weight across the knee joint.
If ever the meniscus is torn, an MRI may reveal that its typical triangular shape will either have shifted or changed. In some cases, the torn portion will have migrated to the center of the knee joint. This is commonly referred to as a “bucket handle tear.”
Certain abnormalities will be listed on an MRI report as an “intrasubstance signal.” This doesn’t mean that the meniscus is necessarily torn, it simply tells us that the meniscus isn’t appearing as it should.
Fluid Build-Up on a Knee MRIOn an MRI, fluid build-up inside the knee appears bright white or whitish. The presence of fluid inside the knee is an indication that there has been some sort of trauma or damage to the structures inside the knee.
Fluid Build-Up on a Knee MRI
On an MRI, fluid build-up inside the knee appears bright white or whitish. The presence of fluid inside the knee is an indication that there has been some sort of trauma or damage to the structures inside the knee.
Ligament Injuries
Ligaments of the knee are the short bands of flexible, fibrous tissue that hold the knee joint together and moderate knee movement. There are four types of ligament:
While a normal ACL tends to be difficult to see on MRI, tears will be seen in 90% of cases.These are most often seen in conjunction with a bone bruise and fracture. The ACL is one of the most commonly injured ligaments in the knee.
Tendon Problems
Atendonis a tough, sinewy fiber that connects muscle to bone. Two tendons are seen on an MRI:
An MRI can be used to detectchronic tendinitisor tendon ruptures (although this is usually apparent on physical examination).
In cases of tendinitis such as that seen with “jumper’s knee,” an MRI will usually reveal progressive knee injury in the form of scarring, inflammation, and malformations of the tendon itself.
Dislocations and Fractures
Summary
An MRI can be used to help your healthcare provider diagnose problems with your knee, such as an injury to the meniscus, a ligament, or a tendon.
Although other injuries like a fracture or dislocation can be seen on an X-ray, your healthcare provider may still order an MRI to see if there is also damage to soft tissues.
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Macmahon PJ, Palmer WE.A biomechanical approach to MRI of acute knee injuries.AJR Am J Roentgenol.2011;197(3):568-77. doi:10.2214/AJR.11.7026Zhao M, Zhou Y, Chang J, et al.The accuracy of MRI in the diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament injury.Ann Transl Med. 2020;8(24):1657. doi:10.21037/atm-20-7391Vielgut I, Dauwe J, Leithner A, Holzer LA.The fifty highest cited papers in anterior cruciate ligament injury.Int Orthop. 2017;41(7):1405-1412. doi:10.1007/s00264-017-3513-3Migliorini F, Marsilio E, Cuozzo F, et al.Chondral and soft tissue injuries associated to acute patellar dislocation: A systematic review.Life (Basel). 2021;11(12):1360. doi:10.3390/life11121360
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Macmahon PJ, Palmer WE.A biomechanical approach to MRI of acute knee injuries.AJR Am J Roentgenol.2011;197(3):568-77. doi:10.2214/AJR.11.7026Zhao M, Zhou Y, Chang J, et al.The accuracy of MRI in the diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament injury.Ann Transl Med. 2020;8(24):1657. doi:10.21037/atm-20-7391Vielgut I, Dauwe J, Leithner A, Holzer LA.The fifty highest cited papers in anterior cruciate ligament injury.Int Orthop. 2017;41(7):1405-1412. doi:10.1007/s00264-017-3513-3Migliorini F, Marsilio E, Cuozzo F, et al.Chondral and soft tissue injuries associated to acute patellar dislocation: A systematic review.Life (Basel). 2021;11(12):1360. doi:10.3390/life11121360
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Macmahon PJ, Palmer WE.A biomechanical approach to MRI of acute knee injuries.AJR Am J Roentgenol.2011;197(3):568-77. doi:10.2214/AJR.11.7026Zhao M, Zhou Y, Chang J, et al.The accuracy of MRI in the diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament injury.Ann Transl Med. 2020;8(24):1657. doi:10.21037/atm-20-7391Vielgut I, Dauwe J, Leithner A, Holzer LA.The fifty highest cited papers in anterior cruciate ligament injury.Int Orthop. 2017;41(7):1405-1412. doi:10.1007/s00264-017-3513-3Migliorini F, Marsilio E, Cuozzo F, et al.Chondral and soft tissue injuries associated to acute patellar dislocation: A systematic review.Life (Basel). 2021;11(12):1360. doi:10.3390/life11121360
Macmahon PJ, Palmer WE.A biomechanical approach to MRI of acute knee injuries.AJR Am J Roentgenol.2011;197(3):568-77. doi:10.2214/AJR.11.7026
Zhao M, Zhou Y, Chang J, et al.The accuracy of MRI in the diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament injury.Ann Transl Med. 2020;8(24):1657. doi:10.21037/atm-20-7391
Vielgut I, Dauwe J, Leithner A, Holzer LA.The fifty highest cited papers in anterior cruciate ligament injury.Int Orthop. 2017;41(7):1405-1412. doi:10.1007/s00264-017-3513-3
Migliorini F, Marsilio E, Cuozzo F, et al.Chondral and soft tissue injuries associated to acute patellar dislocation: A systematic review.Life (Basel). 2021;11(12):1360. doi:10.3390/life11121360
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