Knee complaints in patients with normal arthroscopic findings.

Clinical follow-up was obtained in 96 patients with knee complaints but normal arthroscopic findings (mean observation time, 10 months). About one-third had no symptoms at follow-up; in another third there was improvement; in the remaining third there were unchanged or worsened symptoms, and a clinical re-examination indicated that alterations in the soft tissues around the knee might explain the worsening. However, 10 patients in the last group had not only significant worsening of the knee symptoms but also severe complaints in other regions of the body and a psychosomatic factor was suspected. Most of the patients with symptoms at follow-up had significant wasting of the quadriceps muscles. Energetic exercises seem important even in patients with normal arthroscopic findings.