Bucket-handle meniscal tear

Last revised by Elsayed Khamis Hozein on 10 Feb 2025

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Knipe H, Hozein E, Walizai T, et al. Bucket-handle meniscal tear. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 20 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-59169

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-59169

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/59169?embed_domain=fkgfeaby.ebecbve.dbz%255850%25588c3%25588e

rID:

59169

Article created:

25 Mar 2018, Henry Knipe ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Henry Knipe had no recorded disclosures.

View Henry Knipe's current disclosures

Last revised:

10 Feb 2025, Elsayed Khamis Hozein

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Elsayed Khamis Hozein had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Elsayed Khamis Hozein's current disclosures

Revisions:

29 times, by 19 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Musculoskeletal

Synonyms:

Bucket handle meniscal tear
Bucket handle tear of medial meniscus
Bucket-handle tear
Bucket-handle tear of medial meniscus
Bucket handle meniscal tear

Bucket-handle meniscal tears are a type of displaced vertical meniscal tear where the inner part is displaced centrally. They more commonly occur in the medial meniscus and are often associated with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.

Radiographic features

MRI

Bucket-handle tears can manifest as sensitive but not specific signs ¹:

absent bow tie sign - on sagittal view
double PCL sign (bucket-handle tears of the medial meniscus) - on sagittal view
double ACL sign (bucket-hand tears of the lateral meniscus) - on sagittal view
double anterior horn / flipped meniscus - on sagittal view
double delta sign- on sagittal view
disproportionately small posterior horn - on sagittal view
meniscal fragment in the intercondylar notch - on coronal view
truncation and small size of the body of the meniscus on coronal images - on coronal view