The fat pad and its relationship to anterior knee pain

Abstract The fat pad in the anterior compartment of the knee is often implicated as a cause of anterior knee joint pain. The actual role of this structure remains unclear. The fat pad was clinically implicated in a retrospective review of 53 patients with various knee joint conditions. For the sake of presentation, the patients were divided into various groups which included patients with patellar tendonitis, cruciate ligament surgery, meniscal surgery and a miscellaneous group of patients. Their age group varied between 17 and 67 years. The follow-up was between 4 weeks and 5 years. All these patients presented with pain and/or stiffnes which was related in part to the fat pad pathology. Such a finding was proven by an injection of a cocktail of local anaesthetic and steroid into the fat pad itself which was followed by a transient though complete symptomatic relief due to the effect of the local anaesthetic. Primary fat pad pathology is rare as we propose that fat pad pathology is more commonly secondary to other knee joint pathology. We also suggest that pain produced by the fat pad may have serious implications on knee joint function if not dealt with promptly.