Accuracy of McMurray and Joint Line Tenderness Tests in the Diagnosis of Chronic Meniscal Tears: An Ad Hoc Receiver Operator Characteristic Analysis Approach.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the overall diagnostic accuracy of the McMurray and joint line tenderness (JLT) tests for the detection of meniscal lesions.

DESIGN: Secondary analysis of a prospective observational study.

SETTING: Orthopedics outpatient clinic, university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=56) with suspected nonacute meniscal lesions who underwent knee arthroscopy.

INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Diagnostic accuracy of the McMurray and JLT tests as determined by receiver operator characteristic analysis.

RESULTS: The McMurray test showed higher accuracy (area under the curve [AUC], .69; SE, .079) than the JLT test (AUC, .58; SE, .084).

CONCLUSIONS: The McMurray test, although presenting a higher diagnostic accuracy than the JLT test, does not suffice as a standalone diagnostic procedure for chronic meniscal lesions. The test may still be valuable to guide the diagnosis in cases with highly suspected meniscal tears.