title: Jumper's knee or lander's knee? A systematic review of the relation between jump biomechanics and patellar tendinopathy.
abstract: Patellar tendinopathy (jumper's knee) is a common injury in sports that comprise jump actions. This article systematically reviews the literature examining the relation between patellar tendinopathy and take-off and landing kinematics in order to uncover risk factors and potential prevention strategies. A systematic search of the Pubmed, Embase and Amed databases was performed to identify studies that reported kinematics of sport specific jumps in relation to patellar tendinopathy. A quantitative analysis was performed on 4 indentified studies. Differences were found only between controls and asymptomatic subjects with patellar tendon abnormalities. Most differences were found during horizontal landing after forward acceleration. A synthesis of the literature suggests that horizontal landing poses the greatest threat for developing patellar tendinopathy. A stiff movement pattern with a small post-touchdown range of motion and short landing time is associated with the onset of patellar tendinopathy. Accordingly, employing a flexible landing pattern seems to be an expedient strategy for reducing the risk for (re-) developing patellar tendinopathy. Together, these findings indicate that improving kinetic chain functioning, performing eccentric exercises and changing landing patterns are potential tools for preventive and/or therapeutic purposes.
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center, Center for Sports Medicine, Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van der Worp
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center, Center for Human Movement Sciences, Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: de Poel
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center, Center for Sports Medicine, Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Diercks
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center, Center for Sports Medicine, Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van den Akker-Scheek
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center, Center for Sports Medicine, Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zwerver
mesh_terms: D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059385:Plyometric Exercise; D012307:Risk Factors; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*