Anterior Knee Pain

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Original Editors - Maxime Tuerlinckx

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Search Strategy

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Definition/Description

Anterior knee pain is a pain that occurs in the front and center of the knee and that can be caused by a number of conditions (1):
-Chondromalacia Patellae

-Osgood-Schlatter’s disease

-Patellofemoral pain syndrome

-Sinding Larsen Johansson syndrome

-Plica synovialis syndrome

-Knee bursitis/Hoffa’s disease

-Articular cartilage injury

-Bone tumors: Most patients will experience pain in the area of the tumor. Pain can become worse during physical activity and the pain often awakens patients during the night. Bone mass around the tumor becomes weaker and the bone may break due to this. (5)

-Osteochondritis dissecans

-Patellafemoral instability/subluxation

-Patellar stress fracture: Stress fracture in the patella are caused by a combination of muscular weakness and muscle contraction wich initiates a disturbance in bone remodelling. It reduces shock absorption so high repetitions of loads may result in a stress fracture. (4) 

-Patellar tendinitis

-Patellofemoral osteoarthritis

-Pes anserine bursitis: The anserine bursa is one of 13 bursae found around the knee, located just below the pes anserinus. Patients with pes anserine bursitis often complain of spontaneous knee pain with also tenderness in the inferomedial aspect of the knee joint. (3) 

-Quadriceps tendinopathy

-Prepatellar bursitis

-Iliotibial band syndrome

(2)
Patellofemoral pain syndrome is the most common condition in patients with anterior knee pain, but be aware of the fact that other conditions also occur in the knee and that they diserve an other treatment

Clinically Relevant Anatomy

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Epidemiology /Etiology

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Characteristics/Clinical Presentation

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Differential Diagnosis

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Diagnostic Procedures

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Outcome Measures

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Examination

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Medical Management

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Physical Therapy Management

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Key Research

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Resources

1.Diego Sala, MD;Antonio Silvestre, MD; Fransisco Gomar-Sancho, MD. Intraosseous Hyperpressure of the Patella as a Cause of Anterior Knee Pain. 19 januari 1999 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/717387_4 (D)
2. Sameer Dixit, MD; John P. Difiori, MD; Monique Burton, MD; Brandon Mines, MD. Management of patellofemoral pain syndrome. 15 januari 2007 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17263214 (D)
3. Helfenstein M Jr; Kuromoto J. Anserine syndrome. Rev Bras Reumatol 2010 Jun; 50(3):313-327. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21125167 (D)
4. Crowther MA; Mandal A; Sarangi PP. Propagation of stress fracture of the patella. Februari 2005 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1725122/pdf/v039p000e6.pdf (D)
5. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00074 (D)

Clinical Bottom Line

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Recent Related Research (from Pubmed)

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References

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