This calculator is for general information and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace the judgment of a doctor, nurse or pharmacist who knows the full clinical picture.
The Lysholm knee scoring scale was published by Jack Lysholm and Jan Gillquist in 1982 to assess patients after knee ligament surgery and later revised by Tegner and Lysholm in 1985. It is one of the most common patient-reported outcome measures after anterior cruciate ligament injury, meniscus tears and other knee problems.
The eight items
| Item | Maximum points |
|---|---|
| Limp | 5 |
| Support (stick or crutches) | 5 |
| Locking | 15 |
| Instability (giving way) | 25 |
| Pain | 25 |
| Swelling | 10 |
| Stair climbing | 10 |
| Squatting | 5 |
The total runs from 0 to 100. Instability and pain carry half of the weight, which reflects the original focus on ligament injuries.
Reading the score
| Score | Result |
|---|---|
| 95 to 100 | excellent |
| 84 to 94 | good |
| 65 to 83 | fair |
| under 65 | poor |
The score is most useful to follow one patient over time, for example before surgery and at 6 and 12 months, or to compare groups in a study. A change of about 10 points or more is generally considered meaningful for an individual.
Example
A person with no limp or support (5 + 5), a catching sensation (10), frequent giving way during sport (15), marked pain on hard exertion (15), swelling on hard exertion (6), slight trouble on stairs (6) and squatting (4) scores 66: a fair result.
Pairing with the Tegner activity scale
Because a sedentary person can score well simply by avoiding effort, the Lysholm score is often reported with the Tegner activity level, which rates the highest activity a person does, from 0 (sick leave or disability) to 10 (competitive sports such as soccer at a national level).
Limits
The scale is answered by the patient and has ceiling effects in active people. It was designed for ligament injuries and is less suited to osteoarthritis, where other questionnaires are often preferred. It does not replace an examination when the knee keeps giving way or locking.