The patient was a 57-year-old woman who was referred to a physical therapist in an outpatient setting 8 weeks following an open reduction internal fixation procedure for a left patellar fracture following a fall where the patient landed directly on her left knee in a flexed position. The patient’s treatment plan was established and consisted of range-of-motion and resistive exercises, and she was scheduled to see the physical therapist again in 5 days. At the time of her follow-up visit, however, the patient reported falling 3 days earlier, which caused increased left knee pain and difficulty with weight bearing. The patient was referred to her orthopaedic surgeon, where radiographs revealed orthopaedic fixation of a healing patella fracture. However, the patella was high riding, consistent with a patellar tendon rupture.
J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2012;42(11):969. doi:10.2519/jospt.2012.0419
KEY WORDS: knee, patella, radiography