Meniscal tears occur in two thirds of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and may be a primary reason for knee pain in these patients.  However, physicians cannot rely solely on imaging studies to identify patients with symptomatic meniscal tears, as tears seen on MRI are frequently asymptomatic. Consequently, the clinical history and physical examination findings are important in determining whether a patient with knee OA has a symptomatic meniscal tear.

The MeDOA Study (Meniscal Diagnosis in OA) aims to evaluate the accuracy of specific clinical history and physical examination findings in predicting whether a patient has a symptomatic meniscal tear.  We enrolled over 200 patients who presented with knee pain to the Brigham and Women’s Orthopedic and Arthritis Center.