The "false sense of absence" of the lower extremity below the knee: is it a specific sign for anterior cruciate ligament ruptures?

• Published in: Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 199 - 202
• Main Authors: Demirağ, Burak, Kaplan, Tolga
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Turkish
• Published: Turkey 2003
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; Arthroscopy; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Knee Injuries - diagnosis; Knee Injuries - pathology; Knee Joint - innervation; Knee Joint - physiology; Male; Mechanoreceptors - physiology; Medical History Taking - standards; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Sensitivity and Specificity
• ISSN: 1017-995X

Patients whose anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was completely ruptured described a feeling as if they had lost their lower extremity below the knee and gave an account that they had not sensed that part of their extremity at the time of ACL rupture. Thinking that this description might denote a diagnostic sign, an investigation was made to verify this feeling in patients whose ACL rupture was confirmed by knee arthroscopy. The described feeling was named as "false sense of absence." A total of 135 patients with knee trauma were included. Those whose injuries were complicated or who had multiorgan injuries were excluded. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether they had ACL rupture (95 patients; 89 males, 6 females; mean age 28 years; range 15 to 50 years) or other knee injuries (40 patients; 34 males, 6 females; mean age 35 years; range 13 to 60 years). The above-mentioned symptom was questioned in both groups. The described symptom was found in 87% of patients with ACL rupture and in none of the patients with other knee pathologies (p<0.001). The specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values of this symptom in ACL ruptures were found as 100%, 98%, 100%, and 95%, respectively. The "false sense of absence" symptom, which has hitherto been undescribed in the literature, seems to occur in the majority of patients with ACL ruptures; it may be a specific and sensitive finding in determining ACL ruptures, and thus, may merit inclusion in the process of history taking.