{"id":12173,"date":"2022-10-20T09:50:27","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T07:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.physiotutors.com\/?post_type=wiki&p=12173"},"modified":"2026-10-15T19:11:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:11:35","slug":"pittsburgh-decision-rule","status":"publish","type":"wiki","link":"https:\/\/www.physiotutors.com\/wiki\/pittsburgh-decision-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Decision Rule"},"featured_media":12174,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"class_list":["post-12173","wiki","type-wiki","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"free_access":"","app_link":"","sections":[{"acf_fc_layout":"page-header-detail-page","background":{"background_image":12174,"background_image_alt_text":"Pittsburgh Decision Rule"},"heading":"Pittsburgh Decision Rule | Knee Fracture Screening","subheading":"Screening","content_editor":"","button_type":"internal_link","button_label":"Check our shop","button_style":"button-five","button_internal_link":"","button_anchor":"","button_url":"","button_file":null,"label":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"submenu","links":[{"button_type":"anchor","button_label":"Learn","button_internal_link":null,"button_anchor":"section-number-3","button_url":"","button_file":null},{"button_type":"anchor","button_label":"Free sample","button_internal_link":null,"button_anchor":"section-number-5","button_url":"","button_file":null},{"button_type":"anchor","button_label":"Assessment E-Book","button_internal_link":null,"button_anchor":"section-number-6","button_url":"","button_file":null}],"dropdown_label":"Go to","button_right":{"button_type":"internal_link","button_label":"Try Premium free","button_style":"button-three","button_internal_link":26802,"button_anchor":"","button_url":"","button_file":""},"button_description":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content-content","section_options":{"vertical_alignment":"top","column_right_box":false,"column_left_width":"col-12 col-lg-4 offset"},"column_left":{"content_editor":"

Learn<\/h4>"},"column_right":{"content_editor":"

Pittsburgh Decision Rule | Knee Fracture Screening<\/h2>\nSimilar to the Ottawa Knee Rules<\/a>, the objective of the Pittsburgh Decision Rule is to evaluate which cases of knee injury require radiographic imagery, subsequently reducing the number of unnecessary and costly x-rays.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nThe Pittsburgh Decision Rule was developed in 1994 and has been evaluated with sensitivities of 77-100% and specificities of 57 to 79%.\u00a0 (Seaberg et al. 1994<\/a>, Cheung et al. 2013<\/a>)<\/span>\n
\n\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TMw6SJP784U[\/embed]\n\n<\/div>\nTake a look at the following diagram outlining the specific process.<\/span>\n\n\"Pittsburgh\n\nNow if you see a patient with a reported fall or blunt trauma, in combination with either the inability to walk four full weight-bearing steps or age younger than 12 or older than 50 years old, the decision rule is 100% sensitive and 79% specific for the detection of fractures.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nIf compared to the Ottawa Knee rules<\/a>, the Pittsburgh Decision Rule was found to be significantly more specific in a study by Cheung et al. (2013)<\/a>.<\/span>\n\n \n\n \n\nIf you are curious about screening for ankle fractures, check out the following posts:\n