[Clinical evaluation of knee trauma]

Clinical evaluation is of preponderant importance in the management of knee trauma. This evaluation is based on a systematic examination that should be well known to any practitioner treating such patients. During recent years, the symptomatology of knee trauma has required a large number of manipulations and clinical tests that can better identify the location and nature of anatomic lesions and specify their severity. The most important of these clinical signs and their pathological significance are presented in this study. Analysis of the symptoms, with grouping and concordance of the different tests, classifies the knee as having suffered "ligament", "patella", "meniscal" or other injury. Despite its limitations and sometimes too schematic nature, this classifications is highly informative and in most cases should be an indispensible step before prescribing radiology.