title: Patellar tendon rupture--treatment results.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patellar tendon rupture is a rare injury which, if missed, leads to delayed surgical treatment and may result in the loss of the knee joint function. The aim of this study was to report our results of operative treatment of the patellar tendon rupture and point out the significance of timely diagnosis and surgical procedure.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective ten-year study included 20 patients, 15 males and 5 females, their mean age being 42 (20-84) years. Seven participants had an injury on the right side and 13 had an injury on the left side. Thirteen participants had the diagnosis set in the first seven days after the injury. The applied techniques were surgical suture of the tendon, bone-tendon-bone ligamentoplasty using allograft from a bone bank and bone-tendon-bone ligamentoplasty using contralateral autograft, and they were performed in 12, 5 and 3 patients, respectively. The treatment results were assessed by using the Lysholm score, measuring the range of movement in the knee joint and measuring the girth of the thigh 10 cm above the patella.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The follow-up period after the surgery was 4 years on average (1-10 years) and the average value of the Lysholm score was 83 (27-100). The result was found to be excellent in 11 cases, satisfactory in 5 cases and unsatisfactory in 4. A statistically significant difference (p=0.0197 p<0.05) was found in the average values of the Lysholm score between the group of patients with risk factors (71.78) and the subjects without risk factors (92.18). A statistically significant difference (p=0.008 p<0.01) was found in the Lysholm score between the patients with timely diagnosis (91.62) and cases of chronic tendon tear (67).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Timely diagnosis and early surgical reparation are the basic imperatives in the treatment of this injury. Comorbidity and risk factors are related to a poorer postoperative Lysholm score. The method of choice is early surgical treatment.
authors.forename: Nemanja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kovacev
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Antić
authors.forename: Nemanja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gvozdenović
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Obradović
authors.forename: Miodrag
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vranješ
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milankov
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000293:injuries*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012421:Rupture; D016896:Treatment Outcome