Interobserver Reliability among Radiologists and Orthopaedists in Evaluation of Chondral Lesions of the Knee by MRI

Abstract

Objective . The aim of this study was to evaluate interobserver reliability in the presence of chondral injuries of the knee among radiologists, orthopaedic surgeons, radiologists, and orthopaedic surgeons. Methods . This was a prospective, web-based multi-institutional survey, consisting of 6 magnetic resonance exams of knee chondral injuries and a questionnaire to be completed by the participants. Two radiologists and two orthopaedic surgeons were enrolled, with more than 5 years of clinical experience. Kappa statistics test was used to calculate interobserver reliability between participants. Results . Kappa ranged from −0.13 through 0.29 between orthopaedists; from 0.06 through 0.78 between radiologists; from −0.10 through 0.24 between orthopaedists and radiologists. Cases 3 and 6 had skewed results among radiologists: with Kappa scores of 0.78 and 0.53, respectively. Conclusions . Our study reveals that the interobserver agreement between radiologists is higher than among orthopaedists in the evaluation of chondral knee lesions by MRI.