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Is There a Surgical Treatment of Patellofemoral Pain?

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Patellofemoral Pain, Instability, and Arthritis

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that the vast majority of patients with anterior knee pain (AKP) do not need a surgery; they only need conservative treatment [1–3]. In more cases than desirable, the AKP patient worsens after surgical treatment [4]. In fact, many surgeries in AKP patients are undertaken to address complications from previous poorly performed or badly indicated surgeries intended to treat AKP [4]. The patellofemoral joint (PFJ) does not really tolerate surgical procedures that do not respect its unique anatomical, biological, and biomechanical characteristics [5, 6]. That is why AKP surgery is not performed frequently. However, the results of conservative treatment for AKP are often frustrating—40% of AKP patients have an unfavorable recovery with conservative treatment at 12 months after the initial diagnosis [7]. This high percentage of unfavorable results may be due to some of these patients actually needing surgical treatment but not receiving it because their doctor lacks adequate knowledge to make a precise diagnosis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Valencia, Spain

    Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso

  2. Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, Spain

    Cristina Ramírez-Fuentes

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, Spain

    Joan Ferràs-Tarragó

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI, USA

    Robert A. Teitge

Authors
  1. Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso
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  2. Cristina Ramírez-Fuentes
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  3. Joan Ferràs-Tarragó
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  4. Robert A. Teitge
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lyon-Ortho-Clinic, Lyon, France

    David Dejour

  2. Istituti Ortopedico Rizzoli Clinica, Ortopedica Traumatologica III, Bologna, Italy

    Stefano Zaffagnini

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Elizabeth A. Arendt

  4. Department of Paediatric Surgery, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Petri Sillanpää

  5. Clinic Diakonissen LinzOrthopädie & Sportchirurgie Linz, Puchenau, Austria

    Florian Dirisamer

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Sanchis-Alfonso, V., Ramírez-Fuentes, C., Ferràs-Tarragó, J., Teitge, R.A. (2020). Is There a Surgical Treatment of Patellofemoral Pain?. In: Dejour, D., Zaffagnini, S., Arendt, E., Sillanpää, P., Dirisamer, F. (eds) Patellofemoral Pain, Instability, and Arthritis. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61097-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61097-8_11

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