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Arthroscopic treatment of jumper’s knee offers strong long-term results, study finds

Issue: Issue 4 2011

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Antonio Pascarella

COPENHAGEN — Arthroscopic debridement of the patellar tendon and patellar apex abrasion offers strong results for the treatment of jumper’s knee, according to Italian researchers. Antonio Pascarella presented his team’s findings at the 12th EFORT Congress 2011, here.

Pascarella said the advantages of the approach include its low aggressiveness, short recovery time and an accelerated return to sport. Jumper’s knee results from the violent and repeated quadriceps contractions caused by rapid acceleration and deceleration. These stresses can sometimes prove too much for the patellar tendon’s mechanical resistance, he said.

For the retrospective study, Pascarella’s team operated on 64 jumper’s knee patients (73 knees) from 1996 to 2006 after the patients failed to recover through nonoperative means. Operative treatment included arthroscopic debridement of the patellar tendon’s articular face, as well as arthroscopic abrasion of the patellar apex.

“We used the approach from the anterolateral portal for the arthroscope, and the medial suprapatellar for the irrigation,” Pascarella said.

Patients were evaluated both preoperatively and postoperatively through IKDC score, the Lysholm Knee Scale and Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment (VISA)-P score. Pascarella’s team reported an average preoperative subjective IKDC score of 52.96 had improved to 94.72 at the 12-month postoperative mark — a figure which remained nearly constant after 10 years of follow-up. Mean preoperative Lysholm Knee Scale score improved from 51.57 to 84.68 at the 12-month mark, with similar 10-year results. VISA-P scores experienced similar long-term improvements.

Nineteen of the 27 patients who had previously been involved with competitive sports, Pascarella said, were eventually able to continue that involvement at the same level. Twenty-four of the 27 patients were free of symptoms.

“The advantages of the arthroscopic technique include the fact that it is minimally invasive, it offers better precision, and with it we saw earlier satisfactory indications,” he said.

Reference:

• Pascarella A, Pascarella F, Latte C, Di Salvatore MG. Arthroscopic treatment of jumper’s knee: 10 years of experience. Paper #1916. Presented at the 12th EFORT Congress 2011. June 1-4. Copenhagen.

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