ORTHOPAEDIC AND TRAUMATOLOGICAL SECTION   

Medicina dello Sport 2003 September;56(3):185-91

Copyright © 2003 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Jumper’s knee: a long term follow-up of surgical treatment

Ferretti A., Conteduca F., Camerucci E., Morelli F.

U. O. di Ortopedia e Traumatologia, Centro di Traumatologia dello Sport “Kirk Kilgour”, Policlinico S. Andrea, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Roma

Aim. The aim of this study is to present the results of the surgical treatment carried out in high level athletes with a minimum post-operative follow-up of 5 years.
Methods. Twenty-four competitive athletes (32 knees) operated for patellar or quadriceps tendon tendinitis (jumper’s knee) were reviewed at a mean follow-up of 8 years (range 5-11) and evaluated according to symptoms and retum to full sports activities. There were 22 men and 2 women with a mean age of 26.1 years (range 18-30). A total of 27 cases of patellar tendon tendinitis and 5 cases of quadriceps tendon tendinitis were observed. In all cases the same surgical technique was used: longitudinal splitting of the tendon, excision of the degenerated tissue, apicectomy and drilling of the affected pole.
Results. The results were excellent in 20 knees, good in 5, fair in 3 and poor in 4.
Conclusion. In this study the outcomes of surgical treatment appear to be satisfactory, even after a long term follow-up; however, less predictable are the results achieved in the treatment of volleyball players.