Evidence-based use of clinical examination, ultrasonography, and MRI for diagnosing ulnar collateral ligament tears of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the thumb: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives To determine the performances of clinical examination, ultrasonography, and MRI for diagnosing non-displaced and displaced ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tears. Methods Based on a literature search of Medline, ISI Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus between January 1990 and December 2019, all published original articles which met the inclusion criteria were included. We determined the pooled sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies of clinical examination, ultrasonography, and MRI using a meta-analysis based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses–Diagnostic Test Accuracy (PRISMA-DTA) guidelines. Results A total of 17 studies with 519 subjects reporting diagnostic performances of clinical examination (8), ultrasonography (12), and MRI (5) met the inclusion criteria. For ruling out UCL tears, the pooled sensitivities were similarly high for clinical examination (97% (95% confidence interval [CI], 93–99%)), ultrasonography (96% (95% CI, 94–98%)), and MRI (99% (95% CI, 92–100%)) ( p = 0.3). For ruling in UCL tears, the pooled specificities were higher for MRI (100% (95% CI, 87–100%)) when compared to ultrasonography (91% (95% CI, 86–95%)) ( p = 0.1) and clinical examination (85% (95% CI, 78–91%)) ( p = 0.04). For the diagnosis of displaced UCL tears, MRI had a higher specificity (92% (95% CI, 73–99%)) than ultrasonography (72% (95% CI, 63–80%)) ( p = 0.2). Conclusions Clinical examination, ultrasonography, and MRI have similarly high sensitivities for ruling out UCL tears in patients presenting with a thumb injury. MRI and ultrasonography have high specificities to confirm the presence of suspected UCL tears. MRI performs best for differentiating non-displaced from displaced UCL tears. Key Points • Clinical examination followed by ultrasonography is the most appropriate test for ruling out ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tears of the thumb . • MRI and ultrasonography both have high specificities to confirm the presence of a suspected UCL tear . • MRI outperforms ultrasonography for differentiating non-displaced from displaced UCL tears .