Primary anterior cruciate ligament repair: magnetic resonance imaging characterisation of reparable lesions and correlation with arthroscopy.

Objectives: A recent treatment algorithm suggests that proximal anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears with good-to-excellent tissue quality are amenable to primary repair. Our primary objective was to assess the ability of MRI to determine the exact tear location and tissue quality, using arthroscopy as a reference standard.

Methods: In an initial sample of 71 patients with prior ACL surgery (repair or reconstruction), the diagnostic accuracy of MRI was assessed using arthroscopy as a reference standard.