High-level patellar tendon strain may cause impairments of the tendon's micromorphological integrity in growing athletes and increase risk for tendinopathy. This study investigated if an evidence-based exercise intervention prevents high-level strain, micromorphology pain adolescent basketball players (male, 13–15 years). At three time points over a season (M1-3), mechanical properties were mea...

Patellofemoral pain is seen frequently in young and physically active people. The incidence in primary care for the young adult age is about 10 to 12 new cases per 1000 patients per year, while in sports medicine practice, its prevalence may well be around 25%1. The palette of complaints is varied, from mild short-term pain to long-term and load-dependent pain, leading to functional restriction...

BACKGROUND Few interventions reduce patellar tendinopathy (PT) pain in the short term. Eccentric exercises are painful and have limited effectiveness during the competitive season. Isometric and isotonic muscle contractions may have an immediate effect on PT pain. METHODS This single-blinded, randomised cross-over study compared immediate and 45 min effects following a bout of isometric and i...

BACKGROUND The single-leg squat on a 25 degrees decline board has been described as a clinical assessment tool and as a rehabilitation exercise for patients with patellar tendinopathy. Several assumptions have been made about its working mechanism on patellar load and patellofemoral forces, but these are not substantiated by biomechanical evaluations. AIM To investigate knee moment and patell...

BACKGROUND Ectopic chondrogenesis and ossification were observed in a degenerative collagenase-induced calcific tendinopathy model and to a lesser extent, in a patellar tendon traumatic injury model. We hypothesized that expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) contributed to ectopic chondrogenesis and ossification. This study aimed to study the spatial and temporal expression of BMP-...

OBJECTIVES This non-randomised pilot study investigated the effect of eccentric quadriceps training on 17 patients (22 tendons) with painful chronic patellar tendinopathy. METHODS Two different eccentric exercise regimens were used by subjects with a long duration of pain with activity (more than six months). (a) Nine consecutive patients (10 tendons; eight men, one woman; mean age 22 years) ...

BACKGROUND Ectopic expression of BMP-2, BMP-4 and BMP-7 was observed in clinical samples of tendinopathy and collagenase-induced (CI) tendon injury rat model. TDSCs isolated from the CI model showed increased non-tenogenic differentiation potential and hence altered fate compared to the TDSCs isolated from the healthy animals (HT) but the mechanism is unclear. We hypothesized that sensitization...

OBJECTIVES To assess if continuous topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) treatment improves outcome in patients with chronic patellar tendinopathy when compared with eccentric training alone. METHODS Randomised double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial comparing a 12-week programme of using a GTN or placebo patch in combination with eccentric squats on a decline board. Measurements were per...