Abstract
Current reconstructive methods used after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury do not entirely restore native knee kinematics. Evaluation of dynamic knee laxity is important to accurately diagnose ACL deficiency, to evaluate reconstructive techniques, and to construct treatment algorithms for patients with ACL injury. The purpose of this study is to present recent progress in evaluation of dynamic knee laxity through utilization of the pivot shift test. A thorough electronic search was performed and relevant studies were assessed. Certain dynamic knee laxity measurement methods have been present for over 10 years (Navigation system, Electromagnetic sensor system) while other methods (Inertial sensor, Image analysis system) have been introduced recently. Methods to evaluate dynamic knee laxity through the pivot shift test are already potent. However, further refinement is warranted. In addition, to correctly quantify the pivot shift test, the involved forces need to be controlled through either standardization or mechanization of the pivot shift test.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance
Bull AM et al. Incidence and mechanism of the pivot shift. An in vitro study. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1999;363:219–31.
Torg JS, Conrad W, Kalen V. Clinical diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament instability in the athlete. Am J Sports Med. 1976;4(2):84–93.
Galway HR, MacIntosh DL. The lateral pivot shift: a symptom and sign of anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1980;147:45–50.
Prins M. The Lachman test is the most sensitive and the pivot shift the most specific test for the diagnosis of ACL rupture. Aust J Physiother. 2006;52(1):66.
Galway RD, McIntosh DL. Pivot shift: a clinical sign of symptomatic anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1972;54-B:763–4.
Bull AM et al. Intraoperative measurement of knee kinematics in reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2002;84(7):1075–81.
Kocher MS et al. Relationships between objective assessment of ligament stability and subjective assessment of symptoms and function after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Am J Sports Med. 2004;32(3):629–34.
Leitze Z et al. Implications of the pivot shift in the ACL-deficient knee. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2005;436:229–36.
Ayeni OR et al. Pivot shift as an outcome measure for ACL reconstruction: a systematic review. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):767–77.
Jonsson H, Riklund-Ahlstrom K, Lind J. Positive pivot shift after ACL reconstruction predicts later osteoarthrosis: 63 patients followed 5-9 years after surgery. Acta Orthop Scand. 2004;75(5):594–9.
Peeler J, Leiter J, MacDonald P. Accuracy and reliability of anterior cruciate ligament clinical examination in a multidisciplinary sports medicine setting. Clin J Sport Med. 2010;20(2):80–5.
Kuroda R et al. Similarities and differences of diagnostic manual tests for anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency: a global survey and kinematics assessment. Am J Sports Med. 2012;40(1):91–9.
Lane CG, Warren R, Pearle AD. The pivot shift. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2008;16(12):679–88.
Kitamura N et al. Biomechanical characteristics of 3 pivot-shift maneuvers for the anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knee: in vivo evaluation with an electromagnetic sensor system. Am J Sports Med. 2013;41(11):2500–6.
Musahl V et al. The pivot shift: a global user guide. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):724–31.
Hoshino Y et al. Standardized pivot shift test improves measurement accuracy. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):732–6.
Citak M et al. A mechanized and standardized pivot shifter: technical description and first evaluation. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2011;19(5):707–11.
Musahl V et al. Mechanized pivot shift test achieves greater accuracy than manual pivot shift test. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2010;18(9):1208–13.
Lorbach O et al. Reliability testing of a new device to measure tibial rotation. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2009;17(8):920–6.
Kothari A et al. Evaluating rotational kinematics of the knee in ACL reconstructed patients using 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging. Knee. 2012;19(5):648–51.
Moewis P et al. Towards understanding knee joint laxity: errors in non-invasive assessment of joint rotation can be corrected. Med Eng Phys. 2014;36(7):889–95.
Lefevre N et al. Validity of GNRB(R) arthrometer compared to Telos in the assessment of partial anterior cruciate ligament tears. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2014;22(2):285–90.
Bignozzi S et al. Clinical relevance of static and dynamic tests after anatomical double-bundle ACL reconstruction. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2010;18(1):37–42.
Hoshino Y et al. Optimal measurement of clinical rotational test for evaluating anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(7):1323–30.
Dessenne V et al. Computer-assisted knee anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: first clinical tests. J Image Guid Surg. 1995;1(1):59–64.
Koh J. Computer-assisted navigation and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: accuracy and outcomes. Orthopedics. 2005;28(10 Suppl):s1283–7.
Lane CG et al. In vivo analysis of the pivot shift phenomenon during computer navigated ACL reconstruction. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2008;16(5):487–92.
Hoshino Y et al. In vivo measurement of the pivot-shift test in the anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knee using an electromagnetic device. Am J Sports Med. 2007;35(7):1098–104.
Maeyama A et al. Evaluation of rotational instability in the anterior cruciate ligament deficient knee using triaxial accelerometer: a biomechanical model in porcine knees. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2011;19(8):1233–8.
Lopomo N et al. Quantitative assessment of pivot-shift using inertial sensors. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):713–7.
Zaffagnini S et al. Inertial sensors to quantify the pivot shift test in the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injury. Joints. 2014;2(3):124–9.
Borgstrom PH et al. Use of a gyroscope sensor to quantify tibial motions during a pivot shift test. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2014;22(9):2064–9.
Borgstrom PH et al. Use of inertial sensors to predict pivot-shift grade and diagnose an ACL injury during preoperative testing. Am J Sports Med. 2015;43(4):857–64. A recent publication presenting a novel device consisting of two different inertial sensors (gyroscope and accelerometer). Impressive levels of accuracy were presented for both diagnosis of ACL rupture and correlation to clinical grading of the pivot shift test.
Hoshino Y et al. An image analysis method to quantify the lateral pivot shift test. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):703–7.
Desai N et al. Anatomic single- versus double-bundle ACL reconstruction: a meta-analysis. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2014;22(5):1009–23.
Bjornsson H et al. Is double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction superior to single-bundle? A comprehensive systematic review. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2015;23(3):696–739.
Musahl V et al. Rotatory knee laxity tests and the pivot shift as tools for ACL treatment algorithm. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):793–800.
Kuroda R et al. Quantitative measurement of the pivot shift, reliability, and clinical applications. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):686–91. Recent expert opinion focused on summarizing progress in dynamic laxity measurement using electromagnetic devices.
Araki D et al. Biomechanical analysis of the knee with partial anterior cruciate ligament disruption: quantitative evaluation using an electromagnetic measurement system. Arthroscopy. 2013;29(6):1053–62.
Matsushita T et al. Differences in knee kinematics between awake and anesthetized patients during the Lachman and pivot-shift tests for anterior cruciate ligament deficiency. Orthop J Sports Med. 2013;1(1):2325967113487855. Publication that further elucidates that magnitude of quantified dynamic knee laxity is dependent on the state of consciousness.
Nakajima H et al. Insufficiency of the anterior cruciate ligament. Review of our 118 cases. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 1979;95(4):233–40.
Hughston JC et al. Classification of knee ligament instabilities. Part I. The medial compartment and cruciate ligaments. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1976;58(2):159–72.
Nagai K et al. Quantitative comparison of the pivot shift test results before and after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction by using the three-dimensional electromagnetic measurement system. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2015;23(10):2876–81.
Lopomo N et al. An original clinical methodology for non-invasive assessment of pivot-shift test. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2012;15(12):1323–8. The first publication to introduce dynamic laxity assessment using the KiRA accelerometer, a device that has been utilized and evaluated in various studies since.
Bedi A et al. Lateral compartment translation predicts the grade of pivot shift: a cadaveric and clinical analysis. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2010;18(9):1269–76.
Berruto M et al. Is triaxial accelerometer reliable in the evaluation and grading of knee pivot-shift phenomenon? Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2013;21(4):981–5. An important contribution exposing how experience of the utilized device, in this case an accelerometer, affects the accuracy of a specific method.
Kopf S et al. A new quantitative method for pivot shift grading. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(4):718–23.
Suykens JK et al. A support vector machine formulation to PCA analysis and its kernel version. IEEE Trans Neural Netw. 2003;14(2):447–50.
Labbe DR et al. Quantitative pivot shift assessment using combined inertial and magnetic sensing. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2015;23(8):2330–8. Through utilization of a micro-electromechanical system sensor, the authors of this publication were capable of correlating measured dynamic laxity of the device to clinical grading.
Ishibashi Y et al. Navigation evaluation of the pivot-shift phenomenon during double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: is the posterolateral bundle more important? Arthroscopy. 2009;25(5):488–95.
Zaffagnini S et al. New intraoperative protocol for kinematic evaluation of ACL reconstruction: preliminary results. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2006;14(9):811–6.
Zaffagnini S, Klos TV, Bignozzi S. Computer-assisted anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: an evidence-based approach of the first 15 years. Arthroscopy. 2010;26(4):546–54.
Eggerding V et al. Computer-assisted surgery for knee ligament reconstruction. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014;8:Cd007601.
Colombet P et al. Using navigation to measure rotation kinematics during ACL reconstruction. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2007;454:59–65.
Lopomo N et al. Reliability of a navigation system for intra-operative evaluation of antero-posterior knee joint laxity. Comput Biol Med. 2009;39(3):280–5.
Pearle AD et al. Reliability of navigated knee stability examination: a cadaveric evaluation. Am J Sports Med. 2007;35(8):1315–20.
Ishibashi Y et al. Stability evaluation of single-bundle and double-bundle reconstruction during navigated ACL reconstruction. Sports Med Arthrosc. 2008;16(2):77–83.
Lopomo N et al. Pivot-shift test: analysis and quantification of knee laxity parameters using a navigation system. J Orthop Res. 2010;28(2):164–9.
Klos TV. Computer-assisted anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Four generations of development and usage. Sports Med Arthrosc. 2014;22(4):229–36.
Zaffagnini S et al. Anatomic double-bundle and over-the-top single-bundle with additional extra-articular tenodesis: an in vivo quantitative assessment of knee laxity in two different ACL reconstructions. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2012;20(1):153–9.
Imbert, P., C. Belvedere, and A. Leardini, Knee laxity modifications after ACL rupture and surgical intra- and extra-articular reconstructions: intra-operative measures in reconstructed and healthy knees. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc, 2015.
Monaco E et al. Extra-articular ACL reconstruction and pivot shift: in vivo dynamic evaluation with navigation. Am J Sports Med. 2014;42(7):1669–74.
Imbert P, Belvedere C, Leardini A. Human knee laxity in ACL-deficient and physiological contralateral joints: intra-operative measurements using a navigation system. Biomed Eng Online. 2014;13:86.
Porter MD, Shadbolt B. “Anatomic” single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction reduces both anterior translation and internal rotation during the pivot shift. Am J Sports Med. 2014;42(12):2948–54. To our knowledge, this particular publication is the first to evaluate the reliability of a non-invasive computer navigation system.
Lopomo N et al. Can rotatory knee laxity be predicted in isolated anterior cruciate ligament surgery? Int Orthop. 2014;38(6):1167–72.
Hoshino Y et al. Quantitative evaluation of the pivot shift by image analysis using the iPad. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2013;21(4):975–80. This publication introduces a non-invasive image analysis system using an iPad application to quantify dynamic knee laxity.
Nakamura, K., et al. Evaluation of pivot shift phenomenon while awake and under anaesthesia by different manoeuvres using triaxial accelerometer. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2015. doi:10.1007/s00167-015-3740-3.
Martelli S et al. Description and validation of a navigation system for intra-operative evaluation of knee laxity. Comput Aided Surg. 2007;12(3):181–8.
Martelli S et al. Validation of a new protocol for navigated intraoperative assessment of knee kinematics. Comput Biol Med. 2007;37(6):872–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
David Sundemo, Eduard Alentorn-Geli, Yuichi Hoshino, Jón Karlsson, and Kristian Samuelsson declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Volker Musahl reports grants from Smith and Nephew, grants from Conmed, grants from Arthrex, and grants from DePuy Synnthes, outside the submitted work.
Human and animal rights and informed consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on ACL Update: Objective Measures on Knee Instability
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sundemo, D., Alentorn-Geli, E., Hoshino, Y. et al. Objective measures on knee instability: dynamic tests: a review of devices for assessment of dynamic knee laxity through utilization of the pivot shift test. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med 9, 148–159 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12178-016-9338-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12178-016-9338-7