title: Results of conservative treatment for recalcitrant anterior knee pain in active young adults.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the success rate of a standard rehabilitation protocol in the treatment of recalcitrant anterior knee pain in active young adults. All patients were active military duty personnel. Patients with a diagnosis of recalcitrant anterior knee pain were enrolled in a standard supervised program of physical therapy. Between 1986 and 1989, 139 patients met the criteria for inclusion in the study. The average age was 25.5 years, and the average time in military service was 67 months. There were 123 men and 16 women. The average duration of supervised treatment was 5.3 months. Only 34% (47 patients) were successfully returned to duty. The remainder received medical discharges. Statistically significant factors associated with successful return to full duty included older age (27.4 vs 24.5 years) and longer duration in service (98 vs 51 months). In addition, patients who returned to duty did so after an average of only 3 months of supervised rehabilitation, whereas treatment failures averaged 7.5 months of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Naval Hospital, Oakland, California.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Edeen
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Dainer
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Barrack
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Alexander
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation