MRI‐determined anterolateral capsule injury did not affect the pivot‐shift in anterior cruciate ligament‐injured knees

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to quantitatively compare the results of pivot-shift test between knees with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury with and without anterolateral capsule (ALC) injury detected on MRI. ALC injury was hypothesized to worsen rotatory knee laxity. METHODS: ). Two examiners identified the ALC injury on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and stratified patients into two groups: ALC-injured (ALC+) and ALC-intact (ALC-). ALC injury was diagnosed if the signal intensity on coronal T2-weighted sequences is increased. After confirming the reliability of the MRI, the difference in the pivot-shift between two groups was assessed. RESULTS: , p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Concomitant ALC injury in knees with ACL injury was not consistently detected on MRI and did not affect rotatory knee laxity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Case-control study, level III.