Bipartite Patella?

Triathlon Forum
1

Does anyone here have experience with a bipartite patella?

I’m 26 and have had knee pains for as long as I can remember. Had meniscus work done about 18 months ago, and while in there apparently they found some ACL damage that they couldn’t fix at the time (but that’s a subject for another thread). Anyway, the un-fused bone was an incidental discovery. While doing x-rays for the other knee issues it showed that I have a bipartite patella on the right leg. It made sense I guess, as that part of my kneecap has always had a large protrusion and it’s well known to me that getting hit in that spot has always caused more pain than impact in other places. It was not causing any acute pain at the time and I had lived with it for 25 years at that point so it was decided to leave well enough alone.

Lately though, after a lazy winter and ramping up my cycling over the past couple weeks, it has started to become a nagging issue. Even walking around the office is causing some pain today.

Are there any remedies for this other than the usual ibuprofen and rest? It’s not like it’s a muscle issue that would most likely heal and become a non-issue; it’s a bone issue that’s not going away so I’m looking for a long term solution (that doesnt involve cutting)

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/stroked71/bipartite_patella.jpg

  • Matt
2

One bump and I’ll let it go. Maybe I just need to pay a visit to the ortho if it continues.

3

It sounds like your primary trigger is cycling. There are many tricks you can use to adjust the bike fit to result in less stress on the knee joint. Many cyclists suffer from soreness of the quad tendon. My guess is that your knee would be susceptible to increased stresses in the same way. Decrease the amount of tension across the quad, perhaps get some relief?

There are cleat adjustments, shims, saddle moved back, saddle raised… many things.

4

Bipartite patella is almost always an incidental finding on x-ray. Almost. And, although your posted films are not terribly clear, I would question the diagnosis. The usual appearance is one of a nearly normal appearance with the exception of a smooth black line in the upper corner of the patella. Any chance there’s trauma involved, previous crash, etc.?