The use of stress X-rays in the evaluation of ACL deficiency

Abstract

Partial ACL tears are very important to diagnose preoperatively in order to modify treatment. The diagnosis of partial versus complete ACL tears requires the use of clinical examination, detailed imaging, and the use of instrumented devices that measure laxity. Such efficient devices are modern stress x-rays that compare anterior side-to-side difference among patients with complete and partial tears. Their use has been recently evolved in conjunction with the presence of pivot shift and MRI, so to be able to include partial ACL tears in which the remaining fibers are functional and useful to preserve versus tears with nonfunctional remaining fibers.