Posterior Drawer Test | Posterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Assessment
The Posterior Drawer Test is a common orthopedic test to assess for posterior cruciate ligament tears.
Like the Anterior Drawer Test, the test is conducted in supine lying position with the hip flexed to 45° and the knee flexed to 90°.
According to Rubinstein et al. (1994) the Posterior Drawer Test has a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 98%.
This means that this test seems to be very accurate to confirm and rule out PCL Tears.
P.S. The sound you hear is from our bench and not from a rupturing PCL!
To conduct the test, the Patient is in supine lying position with the hip in 45° and the knee in 90° of flexion.
The examiner may fixate this position by sitting on the patient’s forefoot.
The examiner then palpates the joint line with his thumbs while grabbing onto the tibia from anteriorly.
The examiner then translates the tibia posteriorly in an explosive movement.
Positive Outcome: Soft or mushy end-feel or increased posterior translation on the tested knee compared to the other knee.
21 OF THE MOST USEFUL ORTHOPAEDIC TESTS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
Other tests to assess the posterior cruciate ligament are:
- Posterior Sag Sign / Godfrey’s Test / Step-Off Test
- Quadriceps Active Test / Active Drawer Test
- Reverse Lachman Test
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