Hi there,

This seems to be a classic case of bucket-handle tear of the medial Wikipedia reference-linkmeniscus on that side. Although 31 is a bit young for degenerative tear, there may have been some remote trauma to that knee which is remote enough to have been forgotten if there were no immediate sequelae. I recently had a patient with no remembered trauma, no pain on weight bearing or walking, slight pain on going down stairs, but intermittent locking. Arthroscopy revealed a meniscal tear, as we thought from her symptoms. Good luck!


Quote Originally Posted by spaceangelz View Post
Hi all,

I have a patient with what I think is an unusual presentation

Healthy 31 year old female working full-time at a supermarket, squatted down to stack fruit and was not able to get up again as Left knee had completely locked and was not able to be further flexed or extended.

For the last few months this has happened with very innocuous movements (event standing up) and she reports it locks for 2-3 days and there is nothing she can do to unlock it. She has had no trauma to the knee. She has presented to the emergency department - they did an MRI which cleared of ACL, PCL or meniscal damage.

From my Ax I've found:
- very tender posterior lateral aspect of L knee
- full ROM knee
- reduced length and strength of hamstrings

So far I am treating her as though she has a popliteus tear, however she has no pain with walking (which is usually apparent with a popliteus tear).

Anyone else have any ideas?