Surgical aspects of patellar tendonitis: technique and results

Patellar tendonitis is a difficult clinical problem, and surgical treatment remains unclear in its indications, technique, and functional outcome. This article reviews 17 patients (18 knees) with either primary or secondary patellar tendonitis who required operative treatment. Twelve men and 5 women aged 19-50 years comprised the study population. The right knee was involved in 10 patients, and the left knee was involved in 8. Average time from injury to surgery was 24 months, and average postoperative follow-up was 12 months (range: 6-24 months). Criteria were developed for subjective, objective, functional, and overall evaluation. All knees that were operated on were rated as "very abnormal" preoperatively. Postoperatively, 16 (89%) knees were rated as normal or nearly normal, whereas 2 (11%) knees were rated as abnormal. A surgical technique is described, with emphasis on the rationale and technique, and reasons for initial surgical failure and poor functional outcomes are discussed.