Patellar pain treated by neurotomy.

The mechanism of patellar pain is still not fully understood. Many operative procedures have been proposed, but so far no single technique has been successful. Under the impression that some of the pain-relieving effect by operative treatment is due to partial denervation of the patella, a medial denervation of the patella was performed in 17 patients (20 knees), mean age 24 years, with patellar pain syndrome. At the follow-up only 11 knees were free of symptoms or had improved, and the authors conclude that though comparable with other surgical methods, medial neurotomy is not sufficient to eliminate the pain in patients with patellar pain syndrome.