title: Chronic traumatic anterior knee pain.
abstract: Chronic anterior knee pain following a direct injury to the front of the knee is common. The persistent symptoms can be troublesome. There is a paucity of documentation regarding its definition, natural history and prognosis. We have reviewed 46 (92%) of a consecutive series of 50 patients with chronic traumatic anterior knee pain, in which other significant acute knee pathology was excluded. After a mean follow-up of 4 years and 8 months only 4% of patients were pain free, 68% had moderate or severe pain and 28% mild pain. Twenty percent felt they were improving, 59% were static and 17% were deteriorating. The commonest clinical findings were patello-femoral crepitus (96%), local tenderness (72%) and difficulty in squatting or kneeling (72%). Few patients improve beyond 2 years and continued improvement is unlikely. In patients referred for specialist advice this is a clinical syndrome characterised by persistent debilitating symptoms resistant to treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, UK.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Allum
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018771:Arthralgia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D007603:Jurisprudence; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D007719:Knee Joint; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies