In patients who have irritation of the bursa around the knee with patellofemoral pain, it is important to determine the amount of relative hamstring tightness. To assess this, we determine the “hamstring-popliteal angle”. In this test, the hip is flexed to 90° and it is important to relax the knee completely. The knee […]
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In most cases with patellar dislocations, the patellar dislocates laterally. This results in stretching of the medial tissues and can result in continued instability, especially in patients who have trochlear dysplasia. While most patients with first time patellar […]
In general, patients do not have problems with medial patellar instability. However, in some patients who have had a lateral release, they will have symptoms of the patella subluxing medially. This can occur in patients with an extensive lateral release.
This can be one of the most difficult problems to diagnose in orthopaedics because it is […]
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The patellofemoral joint is a very common source of knee pain. It can be a primary source or it can also be due to […]
One of the most common causes of knee pain is irritation of the patellofemoral joint. Almost all the structures around the patellofemoral joint can be palpated to help one localize best the area of the patient’s pain.
The medial suprapatellar plica is palpated by rolling ones finger along the edge of the medial femoral condyle between […]
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The meniscus is an important shock absorber of the joint. As one ages, the meniscus can become more brittle and is much easier to tear. An arthroscopic meniscectomy is performed in over 200,000 – 300,000 patients […]
Pain along the medial or lateral joint lines may be indicative of a joint capsule tear, joint capsule irritation, meniscus tear, chondromalacia, osteochonritis dissecans, arthritis or other joint pathologies. Palpation of the joint line while performing a valgus or varus stress test will help to differentiate the area of the pain. It is also important […]
One of the most common ways to determine a symptomatic meniscus tear is to have the patient perform a deep squat or flex their knee into maximal flexion. Pain in the back of the knee is a meniscus tear until proven otherwise. Other sources of pain can include a Baker’s cyst, cruciate ligament ganglion cyst, […]
The term “anterior knee pain” is a generic description for various types of pain involving the patellofemoral joint. Similar to the use of the term chondromalacia patella, it is a relatively generic term which does not give any specifics about the anatomic structures involved with a particular joint pathology.
Many causes of anterior knee pain are […]
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Knee flexion is assessed by maximally flexing the knee as far posteriorly as possible. In the face of an acute injury or for patients who have pain from swelling, full flexion may not be assessable because of too much […]
