Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify and summarize literature related to the association between mechanical symptoms (catching and locking of the knee), the presence of meniscal tear, and outcomes after arthroscopic surgery. DESIGN: We searched PubMed and hand-searched reference lists for relevant articles and selected 38 for analysis. RESULTS: Mechanical symptoms appear to have modest sensitivity (ranging 0.32-0.69), specificity (ranging 0.45-0.74) and positive predictive value (ranging 0.75-0.81) for meniscal tear. There is also very little evidence to suggest that those with mechanical symptoms experience better outcomes after arthroscopic surgery. CONCLUSION: Our examination of the literature does not support the hypothesis that mechanical symptoms are related to the presence of meniscal tear or portend better outcomes after arthroscopic surgery.