title: Patellar tendinopathy in junior basketball players: a controlled clinical and ultrasonographic study of 268 patellar tendons in players aged 14-18 years.
abstract: Anterior knee pain is a common presenting complaint amongst adolescent athletes. We hypothesised that patellar tendinopathy may occur at a younger age than is generally recognised. Thus, we studied the patellar tendons in 134 elite 14- to 18-year-old female (n=64) and male (n=70) basketball players and 29 control swimmers (17 female, 12 male) clinically and with ultrasonography. We found that of 268 tendons, 19 (7%) had current patellar tendinopathy on clinical grounds (11% in males, 2% in females). Twenty-six percent of the basketball players' patellar tendons contained an ultrasonographic hypoechoic region. Ultrasonographic abnormality was more prevalent in the oldest tertile of players (17-18 years) than the youngest tertile (14-15.9 years). Of tendons categorised clinically as 'Never patellar tendinopathy', 22% had an ultrasonographic hypoechoic region nevertheless. This study indicates that patellar tendinopathy can occur in 14- to 18-year-old basketball players. Ultrasonographic tendon abnormality is 3 times as common as clinical symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Victorian Institute of Sport, South Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Z S
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001490:Basketball; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D010329:Patella; D015995:Prevalence; D013550:Swimming; D013710:Tendons / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography