Symptoms

Pain in the area of the anterior knee joint, which is located behind the kneecap, is the main symptom of retropatellar arthrosis. It occurs during activities that place great stress on the knee joint. This is especially true in knee flexion.

Thus, the pain often occurs when getting up after sitting down. Depending on the severity of the pain, the heel can no longer be used and climbing stairs can in any case trigger the symptoms. The person can also no longer kneel down.

This can also make walking more difficult in severe cases.In addition to the pain, the mobility of the knee joint can also be reduced. There may be a feeling of stiffness in the joint and a cracking sound may accompany it. The damage to the cartilage causes an inflammatory reaction and the retro-patellar joint can swell and overheating can be felt.

Sports activities such as jogging can no longer be performed due to the impact forces. The muscles attached to the knee tense and promote the pain symptoms. This can lead to a changed gait pattern of the person, which serves to protect the affected side.

As a result, the increased use of the other side can also cause pain there. Although retropatellar arthrosis is found in some cases in both knee joints, it does not always have to be present. For example, patients often have concerns that arthrosis may be present on the previously healthy side. The altered gait pattern may also be accompanied by back pain. You may also be interested in: Knee arthritis – symptoms and pain

Causes

Strong stress on the patellar-femoral joint leads to wear and tear of the cartilaginous surfaces of the joint over a long period of time. Reasons for increased stress on the area of the patellar femoral joint can be caused by malpositioning or instability of the patella, as well as activities that put stress on the knee. Targeted external pressure on the patellar femoral joint no longer distributes the pressure evenly over the cartilage surface.

Over time and with chronic overloading of the cartilage, cartilage damage occurs in this area. Malpositioning of the patella can be caused by a lack of stability of the ligamentous apparatus. But also a weakness of the anterior thigh muscle, the muscle called quadriceps femoris, can lead to this clinical picture.

The task of the muscle Quadriceps femoris is to center the patella in the joint. If, in addition to the above-mentioned causes, knee bends or stairs are performed, the pressure on the cartilage of the patellar femoral joint can be increased. The medical history will provide a general overview.

This allows initial conclusions to be drawn, since there are always symptoms typical of the clinical picture. In any case, the joint is palpated to look for signs of inflammation. Imaging procedures such as X-rays can provide a revealing diagnosis. In this case, the cartilage damage to the retro-patellar joint and the changes caused by it are clearly visible.