[Ruptures of the tendons of the extensor system of the knee joint]

Ruptures of the quadriceps and patellar tendon are comparatively rare lesions. From the number of cases from 1973 till 1983 17 ruptures of the femoral extensor tendon and 8 ruptures of the patellar tendon were controlled diagnostically, therapeutically and in view of their long-term results. Causally in the group of quadriceps tendons 13 spontaneous ruptures were facing 4 traumatically caused ruptures. In case of traumatic ruptures 3 of them were adolescents after extreme traumatic violence by rapid traumata. Degeneratively conditioned subcutaneous quadriceps tendon ruptures we only found in case of men who were on an average older than 50 years. In spite of physiologically extreme resistance to ruptures 6 of 8 ruptures of the ligamentum patellae were ascribed to the fact that by the progressing degeneration the remaining strain capacity of the tendon was reduced below the measure of normal load. In each individual case the aspects of expert opinion were traced - above all in case of tendon ruptures with osseous patella lesions. For the first time a temporally staggered bilateral spontaneous rupture of the patella was described. The operative approach has been discussed just as much as the necessity to examine the internal knee-joint structures arthroscopically in case of the plurality of accompanying retinaculum lesions.