Keywords
Patellofemoral pain syndrome
anterior knee pain
rehabilitation
physiotherapy
therapeutic exercise
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction: patellofemoral pain is a common and chronic musculoskeletal condition, manifested as pain around or behind the patella during activities involving load in this joint. It is prominent in physically active individuals, mainly in runners. There is not enough evidence on the most effective or focused physiotherapeutic approaches for runners. This review article is carried out to analyze the physiotherapeutic approaches of patellofemoral pain in runners in order to create a clinical rehabilitation protocol. Methodology: monograph-type bibliographic, based on articles published in Pubmed, EBSCOhost, SCiELO, Google Scholar and PEDro; in english and Spanish, with no more than 20 years of having been published, related to biomechanics, causes, and physiotherapeutic approach to patellofemoral pain in runners. Forty-four articles were used, including meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and randomized controlled clinical trials. Results: biomechanical alterations in lower limbs are the main cause of patellofemoral pain. Some clinical guidelines include therapeutic exercise, running gesture re-education and adjunctive treatments, with exercise being the most supported by evidence. It is essential to include both combined exercises for the external rotator, hip abductor and quadriceps muscles - without focusing excessively on the selective activation of the Vastus Medialis Oblique muscle - along with technical running retraining. Complementary treatments include neuromuscular training, taping, and orthoses. Of these, evidence does not support its use as the treatment of choice or the main one. Conclusions: treatment of patellofemoral pain in runners should include therapeutic exercise, retraining of the sporting gesture and adjunctive treatments. Therapeutic exercise remains the essential and first choice intervention.
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