ArticleKnee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA2016
Changes in patella tendon length over 5 years after different types of knee arthroplasty.
Article in Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- High survivorship rate and good clinical outcomes at mid-term follow-up for lateral UKA: a systematic literature review.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2021Pooled it
- Infrapatellar fat pad resection or preservation during total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2020Pooled it
- Alteration of Insall-Salvati ratio is associated with complications following fixation of patella fractures.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2025Article
- Minimal changes in patella height after aseptic revision from unicompartmental to total knee arthroplasty.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2025Article
- Digging into the Cause of Abnormal Patellar Kinematics After Open-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy via a Quantitative Study on In Vivo Soft Tissue Functional Changes.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The influence of patellar morphology on clinical outcomes after unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.International orthopaedics · 2024Article
- No shortening of the patellar tendon during two-stage total knee arthroplasty revision using articulating spacers.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2024Article
- The effect of high tibial osteotomy and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty on patellofemoral joint in young patients with medial knee arthrosis.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2024Article
- Patellar Resurfacing Is Not a Risk Factor for Postoperative Patella Baja in Total Knee Arthroplasty.Arthroplasty today · 2024Article
- Effect of preservation of Hoffa's fat pad on patellar height in primary total knee arthroplasty procedures.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2024Article
- Resection of Infrapatellar Fat Pad during Total Knee Arthroplasty Has No Impact on Postoperative Function, Pain and Sonographic Appearance of Patellar Tendon.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Surgical Treatment of Iatrogenic Patella Baja.Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine · 2022Review
- Patellar height after unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: comparison between fixed and mobile bearing.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2022Article
- Autogenous iliotibial band enhancement combined with tendon lengthening plasty to treat patella baja: A case report.World journal of clinical cases · 2022Article
- Evaluation of patella height in native knees and arthroplasty: an instructional review.SICOT-J · 2022Article
- Article
- Significant reduction of patellar height affected lower clinical outcomes and knee flexion over five-year follow-up after total knee arthroplasty.Bone & joint open · 2021Article
- Reliability of a Caton-Deschamps-derived patella height index for knee arthroplasty.International orthopaedics · 2021Article
- Sonographic and radiographic evaluation of the extensor tendons in early postoperative period after total knee arthroplasty.Skeletal radiology · 2021Article
- A new method for evaluation of patellar height and the position of the joint line before and after total knee arthroplasty.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePost-operative shortening of the patellar tendon resulting in an abnormally low-lying patella has been described previously, but the degree of change in patella tendon length over time and extent of its progression after different types of knee arthroplasties remains unknown. This study assesses the incidence of patella tendon length change following lateral unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA), medial UKA, and total knee arthroplasty (TKA), and its impact on patient-reported outcome at 5 years post-surgery.
methodsImmediate post-operative, 1- and 5-year radiographs were reviewed for 50 patients undergoing each operation (n = 150), with the Insall-Salvati ratio used as a measure of patella tendon length. Clinical outcome was assessed using the Oxford Knee Score (OKS).
resultsAt 5-year follow-up, no significant change in patella tendon length was found following medial UKA (1.07-1.05), whilst a significant shortening was found after TKA (1.02-0.96), and a significant lengthening found after lateral UKA (1.02-1.05). For the UKA groups, no further change in tendon length was observed after the first year post-surgery, whereas the TKA group continued to shorten between years one and five. OKS was significantly better in the UKA groups as compared to TKA group. Change in patella tendon length within individual groups did not correlate with OKS at 5 years.
conclusionPatella tendon length shortening is more prevalent in TKAs, whilst lengthening is more prevalent in lateral UKAs. Despite the vertical incision through the patella tendon, lateral UKAs do not cause increased tendon shortening at 5 years post-surgery. However, in the medium term, changes in patella tendon length do not affect patient-reported outcome. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Retrospective, comparative study, Level III.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.