Complications of transligamental knee arthroscopy. The frequency of pain and ultrasonographic changes in the inferior patellar tendon

INTRODUCTION: We wanted to investigate whether the transtendineous portal for arthroscopy was causing damage to the patellar tendon (PT). We also wanted to assess postoperative complaints related to the patellar tendon. METHODS: Out of 59 consecutive patients, who had neither anterior knee pain nor ultrasonographic changes in the tendon, and who had a planned transtendineous arthroscopy of the knee because of a suspected meniscal lesion or osteoarthritis, 36 patients were given both a clinical examination and ultrasonography of the PT before surgery and at two and six months. RESULTS: At the six months follow-up, 20 patients had tenderness of the PT, which was fewer than at the two-month follow-up. Ten patients had signs of granuloma formation of the patellar tendon and four had signs of perifibrosis/peritendinitis on ultrasonography. There was no statistical correlation between tenderness of the patellar tendon and granuloma formation (p = 0.48, Fisher's exact test) or perifibrosis/peritendinitis (p = 0.78, Fisher's exact test). DISCUSSION: More than 25% of the patients showed granuloma formation on ultrasonography and more than 50% had complaints from the patellar tendon, but both the symptoms and the complaints seemed to decline over time. The consequences of the postoperative changes in the patellar tendon six months postoperatively are uncertain, as there was no statistical correlation between tenderness of the PT and the findings at ultrasonography. Further studies are recommended to investigate the changes in the PT when this method is used.