High prevalence of jumper’s knee and sonographic changes in Swedish elite junior volleyball players compared to matched controls

Abstract

Background:Jumper’s knee is a common and troublesome condition among senior volleyball players, but its prevalence among elite junior players compared to matched non-sports active controls is not known.Objective:To clinically, and by sonography, examine the patellar tendons in elite junior volleyball players (15–19 years) at the Swedish National Centre for volleyball and in matched controls.Methods:The patellar tendons in the 57 students at the Swedish National Centre for high school volleyball and in 55 age, height, and weight matched not regularly sports active controls were evaluated clinically and by grey scale ultrasonography (US) and power Doppler (PD) sonography.Results:There were no significant differences in mean age, height, and weight between the volleyball players and the controls. In the volleyball group, jumper’s knee was diagnosed clinically and by US in 12 patellar tendons (10 male and two female). In 12/12 tendons, PD sonography demonstrated a neovascularisation in the area with structural tendon changes. In another 10 pain free tendons, there were structural tendon changes and neovessels. In the control group, no individual had a clinical diagnosis of jumper’s knee. US demonstrated structural tendon changes in 11 tendons, but there was no neovascularisation on PD sonography.Conclusions:A clinical diagnosis of jumper’s knee, together with structural tendon changes and neovascularisation visualised with sonography, was seen among Swedish elite junior volleyball players but not in matched not regularly sports active controls. Structural tendon change alone was seen in 10% of the control tendons.

Análise da aptidão física, da antropometria e da prevalência de sintomas osteomusculares na categoria infanto-juvenil do voleibol

“…The extenuating repetition of some functional gestures seems to be more aassociated with the onset of damage, being the service and the attack the main causes of shoulder injuries 8 . However, frequent involvement of knees and ankles is observed 7,9 . Overuse of the knee extensor mechanism generates dysfunction in the patellar tendon, responsible for the high rate of jumper's knee in volley ball 9 .…”

“…However, frequent involvement of knees and ankles is observed 7,9 . Overuse of the knee extensor mechanism generates dysfunction in the patellar tendon, responsible for the high rate of jumper's knee in volley ball 9 . While adequate training may prevent injuries 1,10 , imbalance between training load and recovery may lead to overtraining 11 , in which performance decreases and muscular pain occurs, among other manifestations 2 .…”

Incidence, Symptoms and Diagnosis of Jumper's Knee and Knee Contusions in Female College Volleyball Players

“…Although volleyball is the sport with the highest incidence of jumper's knee overseas as well as nationally 5) , most published literature on the subject does not classify cases by factors such as gender or age 1,2,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . Generally, male athletes have higher jumping power and lower muscle flexibility.…”

“…Most 14,15) . However, most published literature on the subject does not classify cases by factors such as gender or age.…”

State-of-the-art ultrasonographic findings in lower extremity sports injuries

“…Grayscale ultrasonography shows thickening and a hypoechoic area at the proximal part of the patellar tendon (5,8) (Fig. 3a).…”