Background: This systematic review aimed at evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of pulse examination in detecting surgical arterial lesions associated with knee dislocation.
Methods: MEDLINE, CINAHL, and SportDiscus databases were searched in all languages to review articles concerning human knee dislocation and associated vascular injuries.
Results: We reviewed 116 articles. Seven met our inclusion criteria, providing detailed data on 284 injuries. Pooled data demonstrated that abnormal pedal pulses present a sensitivity of 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64-0.89), a specificity of 0.91 (95% CI 0.78-0.96), a positive predictive value of 0.75 (95% CI, 0.61-0.83), and a negative predictive value of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.85-.96).
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the isolated presence of abnormal pedal pulses on initial examination of patients with knee dislocations is not sensitive enough to detect a surgical vascular injury. On the basis of this meta-analysis, an algorithm for the evaluation of these patients is presented.