Presentation
Jumper's knee (patellar tendinopathy, patellar tendinosis, patellar tendinitis) commonly occurs in athletes who are involved in jumping sports such as basketball and volleyball. Patients report anterior knee pain, often with an aching quality. The symptom onset is insidious. Rarely is a discrete injury described. Usually, involvement is infrapatellar at or near the infrapatellar pole, but it may also be suprapatellar.
Depending on the duration of symptoms, jumper's knee can be classified into 1 of 4 stages, as follows:
Stage 1 – Pain only after activity, without functional impairment
Stage 2 – Pain during and after activity, although the patient is still able to perform satisfactorily in his or her sport
Stage 3 – Prolonged pain during and after activity, with increasing difficulty in performing at a satisfactory level
Stage 4 – Complete tendon tear requiring surgical repair
It begins as inflammation in the patellar tendon where it attaches to the patella and may progress by tearing or degenerating the tendon. Patients present with an ache over the patella tendon. Most patients are between 10 and 16 years old. Magnetic resonance imaging can reveal edema (increased T2 signal intensity) in the proximal aspect of the patellar tendon.
Read more about this topic: Patellar Tendinitis
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