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About
The Problem
If you have anterior knee pain (AKP), it is possible and even likely that your problem will not be solved by current treatment methods.
Anterior knee pain is an enigma. It is an unsolved mystery. To quote Dr. Scott Dye, an eminent researcher who has published substantial research on this problem…”Patients with symptoms of patellofemoral pain present one of the most substantial challenges to the diagnostic and therapeutic abilities of orthopaedic surgeons worldwide…The treatment algorithms that follow from the nearly exclusive consideration of … structural data (including excessive use of the lateral retinacular release, aggressive chondroplasties, and proximal and distal realignments) unfortunately often have resulted in the worsening of the patient’s symptoms…”
The pathophysiology of patellofemoral pain: a tissue homeostasis perspective; Dye, S.F.; Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 2005, 436, 100-110, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc
Extent of the Problem
Other terms are used for this syndrome – patellofemoral pain syndrome, runner’s knee, chondromalacia patellae. In the office setting,
- AKP is the most common diagnosis in outpatients presenting with knee pain (11 % of musculoskeletal complaints)
- AKP is the most commons single diagnosis among runners (16-25% of all injuries in runners)
Literature Consensus on Treatment
current literature suggests adopting a treatment program that optimizes non-operative management. This approach, if not successful, may allow the patient to suffer this pain, possibly indefinitely.
The objective of this website is to inform you about the problem of anterior knee pain, and to outline an alternate approach which may offer an improved chance of success.