There is the history of the joint suddenly being forced into an abnormal position. The patient may actually have heard a 'snap'. This type of injury is most likely to occur at sites where the joint is least well protected by surrounding muscles eg the knee, ankle and the finger. The patient may be in extreme pain.
The site of the injury is often extremely tender. The joint may be swollen (this may due to a haemarthrosis). Comprehensive examination of the stability and movement of the joint may not be possible because of pain. Joint instability may be shown whilst the patient is under general anaesthesia - this is the feature that discriminates a torn ligament from a strained ligament injury.
X-ray examination may reveal a detached flake of bone where the ligament is inserted.
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