Thessaly Test for the knee

Clinical screening tool for meniscal tears.[1]
Technique

The Thessaly test is a dynamic reproduction of joint loading in the knee.  The test is performed at 5° and 20°
of flexion. The examiner supports the patient by holding his or her outstretched hands while the patient stands flatfooted on the floor. The patient then rotates his or her knee and body, internally and externally, three times, keeping the knee in slight fiexion (5°).  The same procedure is then carried out with the knee flexed at 20°.
Patients with suspected meniscal tears experience medial or lateral joint-line discomfort and may have a sense of locking or catching. The theory behind the test is that, with this maneuver, the knee with a meniscal tear is subjected to excessive loading cunditions and almost certainly will have the same symptoms that the patient reported. The test is always performed first on the normal knee so that the patient may be trained, especially wilh regard to how to keep the knee in 5° and then in 20° of flexion.[1]

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