Musculo-skeletal   [back to the Category]

Patellar engagement syndrome or sagittal instability   [read the french version]

Author :   Docteur Anne thiescé

This syndrome is linked to a patellar alta, an insufficiency in the hamstrings or a quadricipital dystonia. A recurvatum lowers the toleration level.

The syndrome involves pain and jamming in the first degrees of flexion and in the last degrees of extension. It results from the patella having difficulty engaging and disengaging with the trochlear rail.

This syndrome also occurs during adolescence, affecting knees with valgum and recurvatum tendencies.

Treatment is re-educative. A personalised re-education programme must be set up for the patient in order to combat the retraction of the rectus femoris and the insufficiency in the hamstrings that must be strengthened using eccentric exercises. It also encourages adequate muscular relaxation of the quadriceps femoris.

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