Skip to content
Epomedicine
Epomedicine

Mnemonics, Simplified Concepts & Thoughts

  • Medical Students
  • Bedside Clinics
  • Case Reports
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Blog
  • Surgical Skills
  • Medical Mnemonics
Epomedicine

Mnemonics, Simplified Concepts & Thoughts

Unhappy Triad of O’Donoghue : Mnemonic

Epomedicine, Oct 19, 2024Oct 19, 2024

Last updated on October 19, 2024

O’Donoghue unhappy triad is occurrence of 3 different soft tissue injuries of knee simultaneously. It includes:

Mnemonic: MAM

  1. Medial collateral ligament injury
  2. Anterior cruciate ligament injury
  3. Medial meniscus injury (associated with lateral compartment bone bruise)
unhappy triad knee

Mechanism: valgus stress with rotation of the knee

Later on, more studies emerged showing that injuries in the lateral meniscus were more prevalent than injuries in the medial meniscus. The unhappy triad changed since its description by O’Donoghue. Being first described as a rupture in the ACL, MCL and medial meniscus, the latter was replaced by the lateral meniscus as a more frequent presence in this triad. Studies are now showing that due to the association of the triad with lesions of the anterolateral complex this is now a tetrad.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
PGMEE, MRCS, USMLE, MBBS, MD/MS Musculoskeletal systemOrthopedicsRadiology

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Epomedicine. Unhappy Triad of O’Donoghue : Mnemonic [Internet]. Epomedicine; 2024 Oct 19 [cited 2025 May 27]. Available from: https://epomedicine.com/medical-students/unhappy-triad-of-odonoghue-mnemonic/.

Pre-clinical (Basic Sciences)

Anatomy

Biochemistry

Community medicine (PSM)

Embryology

Microbiology

Pathology

Pharmacology

Physiology

Clinical Sciences

Anesthesia

Dermatology

Emergency medicine

Forensic

Internal medicine

Gynecology & Obstetrics

Oncology

Ophthalmology

Orthopedics

Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)

Pediatrics

Psychiatry

Radiology

Surgery

RSS Ask Epomedicine

  • What to study for Clinical examination in Orthopedics?
  • What is the mechanism of AVNRT?

Epomedicine weekly

  • About Epomedicine
  • Contact Us
  • Author Guidelines
  • Submit Article
  • Editorial Board
  • USMLE
  • MRCS
  • Thesis
©2025 Epomedicine . All rights reserved.