[Jumper's knee. Surgery and arthroscopic treatment with scraping and povidone collagen in high-performance athletes]

Abstract

The jumper's knee or patellar tendonitis is a common injury in the athlete with an incidence between 14% and 16% among high-performance athletes. In addition to an overuse injury, there are some intrinsic factors for its development. Conservative treatment is indicated for the initial form, but when it fails, surgical treatment should be performed with an appropriate rehabilitation program.

Material and methods: We retrospectively studied 18 high performance athletes in various disciplines, with an average age of 22 years, operated by arthroscopy and mini-arthrotomy scraping and application of povidone collagen sponge between March 2001 and December 2005. There after patients underwent a rehabilitation program specific for their return to their athletic activity.

Results: The patients returned to their sports activity in an average of 15 weeks, with functional knees without pain, with full range of motion. We did not find postoperative fibrosis.

Discussion: The results were similar and slightly better in time of return to sports activities to those reported in the world literature, with the difference in follow up. According to the clinical evaluation, treatment performed allows functional improvement with a return to athletic activity in a reasonable time.