Multirater agreement of arthroscopic meniscal lesions.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

BACKGROUND: Establishing the validity of classification schemes is a crucial preparatory step that should precede multicenter studies. There are no studies investigating the reproducibility of arthroscopic classification of meniscal pathology among multiple surgeons at different institutions. HYPOTHESIS: Arthroscopic classification of meniscal pathology is reliable and reproducible and suitable for multicenter studies that involve multiple surgeons. STUDY DESIGN: Multirater agreement study. METHODS: Seven surgeons reviewed a video of 18 meniscal tears and completed a meniscal classification questionnaire. Multirater agreement was calculated based on the proportion of agreement, the kappa coefficient, and the intraclass correlation coefficient. RESULTS: There was a 46% agreement on the central/peripheral location of tears (kappa = 0.30), an 80% agreement on the depth of tears (kappa = 0.46), a 72% agreement on the presence of a degenerative component (kappa = 0.44), a 71% agreement on whether lateral tears were central to the popliteal hiatus (kappa = 0.42), a 73% agreement on the type of tear (kappa = 0.63), an 87% agreement on the location of the tear (kappa = 0.61), and an 84% agreement on the treatment of tears (kappa = 0.66). There was considerable agreement among surgeons on length, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.78, 95% confidence interval of 0.57 to 0.92, and P < .001. CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopic grading of meniscal pathology is reliable and reproducible. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Surgeons can reliably classify meniscal pathology and agree on treatment, which is important for multicenter trials.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Dunn, WR; Wolf, BR; Amendola, A; Andrish, JT; Kaeding, C; Marx, RG; McCarty, EC; Parker, RD; Wright, RW; Spindler, KP

Published Date

  • December 2004

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 32 / 8

Start / End Page

  • 1937 - 1940

PubMed ID

  • 15572324

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0363-5465

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1177/0363546504264586

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States