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Anterior Knee Pain After ACL Reconstruction: How to Avoid It

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The ACL-Deficient Knee

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Abstract

Anterior knee pain (AKP) is a frequent complaint and well-documented problem after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction [1, 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22–24, 27, 28, 30, 33, 41, 42, 47, 48, 50, 52–58, 61]. AKP is a diagnosis based on symptoms and clinical signs. The severity of pain ranges from a mild nuisance to severe pain that prevents one from performing daily living activities. Thus, depending on pain severity, it could be considered as a complication or a normal postoperative outcome. The presence of AKP can interfere with patient’s satisfaction after ACL reconstruction. In fact, AKP is an outcome predictor after ACL reconstruction. Thus, Bartlett et al. [4] have observed that the grade of patient satisfaction after ACL reconstruction correlates more strongly with the absence of pain than with any other variable assessed. Also, Heijne et al. [20] have shown that a low degree of AKP is the most important predictor for a good clinical outcome 12 months after ACL reconstruction. Therefore, prevention of AKP after ACL reconstruction would be a crucial key for surgery success.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Valencia, Spain

    Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy Unit, Hospital 9 de Octubre, Valencia, Spain

    Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso M.D., Ph.D.

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital de Manises, Manises, Valencia, Spain

    Erik Montesinos-Berry M.D.

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital Clínico Universitario, Valencia, Spain

    Alfredo Subías-López M.D.

  5. Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, Hospital de la Sta Creu i Sant Pau, C/ St AM Claret, 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain

    Joan Carles Monllau M.D., Ph.D.

  6. ICATME, Hospital Universitari Dexeus, C/ Sabino Arana 5-19, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Joan Carles Monllau M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso M.D., Ph.D.
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  2. Erik Montesinos-Berry M.D.
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  3. Alfredo Subías-López M.D.
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Correspondence to Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Depto. Cirugia Ortopédica, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, c/San Clemente 12, Valencia, 46015, Spain

    Vicente Sanchis-Alfonso

  2. , Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital de Sant Pau, St Antoni m Claret 167, Barcelona, 08025, Spain

    Joan Carles Monllau

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Sanchis-Alfonso, V., Montesinos-Berry, E., Subías-López, A., Monllau, J.C. (2013). Anterior Knee Pain After ACL Reconstruction: How to Avoid It. In: Sanchis-Alfonso, V., Monllau, J. (eds) The ACL-Deficient Knee. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4270-6_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4270-6_30

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