Journal of science and medicine in sport
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Patellar tendinopathy is a common and often difficult to treat overuse injury which is characterized by activity-related anterior knee and focal palpation tenderness of the patellar tendon. The clinical diagnosis is mainly based on clinical examination, in which the yardstick is a non-standardized manual palpation. To standardize this palpation procedure the use of an algometer seems applicable. ⋯ The PPT of asymptomatic athletes differs significantly (p<.001) from athletes with a diagnosis of patellar tendinopathy. The inter-rater (ICC 0.93) and intra-rater (ICC 0.60) reliability of the pain pressure threshold are adequate to moderate. Although further research is warranted PPT algometry seems to be a feasible, reliable and useful tool in the diagnosis and treatment evaluation of athletes with patellar tendinopathy.
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Clinical Trial
Testing procedures for SLAP lesions of the shoulder involving contraction and torsion of biceps long head and glenohumeral glides.
Testing procedures for SLAP lesions of the shoulder can combine resisted elbow flexion, forearm pronation and supination, and glenohumeral glides. These procedures reproduce symptoms by increasing biceps long head active tension or passive torsion, and by placing the shoulder in an unstable position. We compared activation of biceps long head and pain intensity, between supinated and pronated forearm positions, between different glides, and between individuals with and without shoulder impairment. ⋯ No one combination of testing procedures appeared to be diagnostic of SLAP lesions in our sample. This study supports the theory that biceps long head acts as a stabiliser of the shoulder, and suggests that clinical testing procedures for SLAP lesions may need to inhibit biceps long head activity. The addition of glides to SLAP testing procedures did not affect the reproduction of pain.