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A lateral positioned patella has long been regarded as a major contributing factor in the development of patella femoral pain (PFP). Despite extensive research, there is still little consensus as to the most effective treatment strategy for the management of patients with lateral patellar displacement (LPD). Computational intelligence methods are proving useful aids to physicians and other medical staff, improving objectivity when making diagnostic and treatment decisions and reducing the time to make decisions. This study describes an adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) used to build a model for the indirect prediction of rehabilitation treatment outcomes for females with LPD from only demographic and clinical characteristics. The prediction abilities offered using two ANFIS models are presented using data from 48 female patients referred to rehabilitation clinics of Isfahan Ayatollah Kashani and Al Zahra hospitals, Iran. The results indicate that the ANFIS model has strong potential to improve indirect prediction of rehabilitation treatment for females with LPD with a high degree of accuracy and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effect of multiple applications of patellar taping over a longer period of time, alone and along with the application of therapeutic exercise on patella position and pain control in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS). Study Design: A different subject pretest-post test, experimental group design. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one subjects participated in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: Patellar taping combined with Close Kinetic Chain (CKC) exercise, Patellar taping only, and CKC exercise only (n = 7 in each group). Taping was applied and exercise was performed on a daily basis for three weeks. The measures were obtained on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain and lateral patellar displacement for patella position. Results: The paired t-test was used for within-group comparison of pre-test and post test measurement and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used for between-group comparisons of the three groups. The result of the study showed that the group receiving patellar taping and CKC exercise had better pain relief (p < .05) than the patellar taping only and CKC exercise only groups. There were no significant differences in terms of patella position in any of the group (p > .05). Conclusion: The combination of daily patella taping along with CKC exercise program for three weeks has been seen to be more effective than only patella taping and only the CKC exercise program, in reducing pain in patients with PFPS. Patella taping alone or in conjunction with CKC exercises is not able to bring any significant change in the patella position in patients with PFPS.

Purpose: Anterior knee pain is a common musculoskeletal condition amongst young adult population. Lower extremity structural factors, such as increased femoral anteversion and lateral tibial torsion, may contribute to patellofemoral malalignment and anterior knee pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the lower extremity structural factors and related patellofemoral alignment parameters that play a role in the aetiology of anterior knee pain.Methods: This study involved three groups: patients with unilateral symptomatic knees (n = 35), asymptomatic contralateral knees in the same patients and a control group (n = 40). All subjects were physically examined, and Q-angles were measured. The lower extremities of all subjects were imaged by a very low-dose CT scan, and the symptomatic knees of patients were compared with their asymptomatic contralateral knees and with the healthy knees of controls regarding femoral anteversion, tibial torsion, sulcus angle, patellar tilt angle and lateral patellar displacement.Results: Regarding the Q-angle, femoral anteversion and lateral tibial torsion, no significant differences were found between the symptomatic and asymptomatic knees, whereas significant differences were found between the symptomatic knees and controls. The symptomatic group demonstrated significantly greater sulcus angle only in 30° of knee flexion than did the controls.Conclusion: Patients with unilateral anterior knee pain may have similar morphology at their contralateral asymptomatic lower extremity, and different morphology compared with healthy controls. Lower extremity rotational deformities may increase the risk of anterior knee pain; however, these deformities alone are not sufficient to cause knee pain, and may be predisposing factor rather than a direct aetiology.Level Of Evidence: Diagnostic study, Level III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]