Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) and intervention of Physiotherapy in its treatment. Bibliographic review

Abstract

The patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is the most frequent syndrome of the patellofemoral pathology, and is reason for complaint in adolescents and young adults, mainly in the young athletes and military.  The cause of the pathology still is not understood completely, and several factors are attributed to them: bad alignment of the inferior member, muscular imbalance, tense anatomical structures, excessive requesting. This uncertainty with respect to the cause of the pathology also is applied to the criteria of diagnoses and to the terminology.  In this work is marked like objective the clarifying the contribution and the possible effectiveness of the physical therapy in the preservative treatment of the PFPS.   After making a bibliographical search of most excellent articles than have been published in prestigious scientific magazines of the PFPS, 20 articles are chosen that by their importance with respect to the diagnosis, design and intervention of the physical therapy, contribute the most interesting data to include in this revision.  It established the discussion of the analyzed articles that talk about a: the origin and the development of the disease, the techniques of intervention of the physical therapy, the results of the use of the physical therapy in the preservative treatment of the PFPS; the following conclusions are reached: the origin and development of the PFPS it must many factors and is very variable, the reinforming of the quadriceps is essential for the normal function of the knee, the use of taping to patellar has a preventive and palliative beneficial effect on the pain and the function of the knee.  The obtained results are a 42.9 % of articles agree in the high effectiveness of the intervention of the physical therapy, another 42.9 % consider that not always the physical therapy obtains the wished results, and 14.2 % express certain evidence that the physical therapy can help to reduce the pain.