Symptoms | Sinding-Larsen’s disease

Symptoms

The symptoms of Sinding-Larsen’s disease are quite general and can be assigned to a number of diseases of the knee joint. For this reason, a specialist should be consulted urgently and a diagnosis sought if the symptoms in the area of the knee persist. Patients suffering from Sinding-Larsen’s disease usually report severe pain in the affected knee.

In many cases, the exact location of this pain can be assigned to the tip of the kneecap in early stages. Especially after a physical stress situation, these pains are described as particularly severe and stressful. Depending on the extent and stage of the disease, the typical symptoms of Sinding-Larsen’s disease can disappear after a short warm-up phase and only reappear after the end of sporting activity.

Patients suffering from advanced Sinding-Larsen’s disease, however, usually experience significant pain in the area of the patella tip, both at rest and during periods of stress.In addition, redness and/or swelling of the affected knee may occasionally occur. Classically, Sinding-Larsen’s disease is clinically classified into four grades according to its severity:

• Degree: Pain occurs only after the end of the load
• Degree: At the beginning of the load, there is considerable pain. These disappear during the load and reappear after the end.
• Degree: Pain persists (at rest and under stress)
• Degree: A tear of the patellar tendon occurs

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of Sinding-Larsen’s disease is divided into different steps:

• At the beginning, there is usually an extensive doctor-patient consultation (anamnesis) in which the treating doctor deals with the existing symptoms. In addition, the patient’s lifestyle (sports, etc.) and possible previous illnesses also play a decisive role.
• Afterwards the attending physician will perform a physical examination.

  During this examination not only the aching knee is assessed but also all adjacent joints and the healthy side of the body. Patients suffering from Sinding-Larsen’s disease usually experience a strong pain in pressure above the tip of the lower patella during this physical examination. In addition, patients suffering from Sinding-Larsen’s disease can only fully extend the affected knee in pain.

• If the suspicion of Sinding-Larsen’s disease is confirmed after the first diagnostic steps, an ultrasound examination of the knee is usually performed first.

  In severe and/or pronounced cases, changes in the bone structure can already be imaged in the ultrasound. However, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) must be performed to make a reliable diagnosis. Only with the help of MRI can the extent of the disease be reliably assessed and possible therapeutic steps weighed up.