The Knee Magnetic Resonance Order: Can It Be Reduced by Specialists?

INTRODUCTION: Knee pain is one of the most common complications in the trauma clinic. It is common to find patients who come to the office with a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MRI) who have a broken meniscus and who are looking for a lathe in the operating room. The majority of these patients are feasible for orthopedic treatment and it is sufficient to perform correct semiological maneuvers to determine it. Although there is a growing demand for knee MRI by members of the health team. The hypothesis of this work postulates that the NMR requested by the specialists in orthopedics and traumatology offer positive results both for the diagnoses and for the treatment plans. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to compare the usefulness in diagnosis and in the therapeutic definition of knee MRIs requested by medical specialists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 1,186 knee MRI reports from January 1, 2015 to July 31, 2015, using the computerized clinical history system. These were classified according to the origin of the request for the images (specialists in orthopedics and traumatology, residents of traumatology and other medical specialties). This information was explored for its characterization. Retrospective study. Level of evidence IV RESULTS: We obtained 33% (389) normal report of knee, significantly lower (p <0.001) to 67% reporting injuries. The proportion of studies requested was mostly by specialists in orthopedics and traumatology (59%), followed by the proportion required by different medical specialties (27%) and by those prescribed by traumatology residents (13%). The percentages of normal reports of those studies requested were different (p <0.05) 29, 42 and 32%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In primary care by physicians and residents of traumatology, the request for knee MRI reports a high percentage of normal reports. Specialists in orthopedics and traumatology request this exam with greater demand and present greater findings of injuries.