Acute patellofemoral pain: aggravating activities, clinical examination, MRI and ultrasound findings.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate acute anterior knee pain caused by overuse in terms of pain location, aggravating activities, findings on clinical examination and ultrasound/MRI examination. To determine if acute anterior knee pain caused by overuse should be classified as a subgroup of patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). METHODS: In a observational study design 30 army recruits with anterior knee pain (mean duration of pain 4 weeks) were examined using the PFPS pain severity scale (PSS), knee pain diagrams, standardised clinical examination, ultrasound and MRI examinations. RESULTS: On PSS typical knee loading activities were the most painful, while sitting with knee bend for prolonged time caused surprisingly little pain. Pain was most commonly perceived in the peripatellar area (25 patients (83%)). The most common site of pain on clinical examination was the peripatellar area (25 patients (83%)), but other synovial covered structures including the fat pad of Hoffa (12 patients (40%)), the medial plica and the joint line (12 patients (40%)) were also involved. Only eight patients (27%) experienced pain on the patellofemoral compression test. Only discrete changes was detected on MRI/ultrasound. CONCLUSIONS: Acute anterior knee pain should be regarded as a subgroup of PFPS as both symptoms and clinical examination suggests this. The clinical examination with disseminated pain in all synovial covered structures is consistent with ideas of the importance of synovium in the genesis of pain.

Swimmers' painful shoulder arthroscopic findings and return rate to sports.

Shoulder pain is the most common musculo-skeletal complaint in competitive swimmers. It remains one of the shoulder pain syndromes in overhead athletes where no golden standard of treatment exists. Eighteen competitive swimmers who all had undergone shoulder arthroscopy for therapy-resistant shoulder pain were retrospectively evaluated with respect to operative findings and ability to return to their sport after the operation. The most common finding at arthroscopy was labral pathology in 11 (61%) and subacromial impingement in five shoulders (28%). Operative procedures included debridement in 11 swimmers, partial release of the coraco-acromial ligament in four, and bursectomy in four. Sixteen (89%) responded to the follow-up evaluation. Nine swimmers (56%) were able to compete at preinjury level after 4 (2-9) months. Findings at arthroscopy suggest that the term "Swimmer's shoulder" covers a variety of pathologies including labral wearing and subacromial impingement. Arthroscopic debridement of labral tears or bursectomy in swimmers with shoulder pain has a low success rate with regard to return to sport. Further understanding and investigation of this syndromes complex pathophysiology is needed.

Reproducibility of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging measurements of tendon size.

PURPOSE: To investigate the intra- and inter-tester reproducibility of measurements of the Achilles tendon, tibialis anterior tendon, and the tibialis posterior tendon in football players using ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eleven asymptomatic football players were examined. Using a standardized US scanning protocol, the tendons were examined by two observers with US for thickness, width, and cross-sectional area. One observer conducted the procedure twice. The subjects also underwent an MRI examination, and the assessment of tendon size was conducted twice by two observers. RESULTS: The best reproducibility judged by coefficient of variation (CV) and 95% confidence interval was determined for the Achilles tendon on both US and MRI. The variability of US on measurements on the tibialis anterior and tibialis posterior tendons was less than that when using MRI. In 12 out of 18 measurements, there were systematic differences between observers as judged by one-sided F-test. CONCLUSION: The reproducibility of the three tendons was limited. Precaution should be taken when looking for minor quantitative changes, i.e., training-induced hypertrophy, and when doing so, the Achilles tendon should be used.