Impact of MRI on a knee arthroscopy waiting list.

As part of a waiting list initiative, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were arranged for 69 patients waiting for knee arthroscopy. All patients had a clinical diagnosis of a meniscal tear. With 11 non-attenders, 58 scans were performed. Of the patients scanned, 35 had demonstrable meniscal tears, and five patients had other pathology on their scans. All patients were reviewed clinically after their scans, and 24 patients were removed from the waiting list. After a further 9 months, only one of the 24 patients removed had been re-listed for therapeutic arthroscopy. This initiative proved a cost-effective method of reducing waiting times for knee arthroscopy.