Self-reported jumpers’ knee is common in elite basketball athletes – But is it all patellar tendinopathy?

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and pain location of self-reported patellar tendinopathy and patellar tendon abnormality in a male elite basketball population. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Pre-season tournament. Participants: Sixty male athletes from the Australian National Basketball League. Main outcome measures: Self-reported patellar tendinopathy (PT) using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Overuse Questionnaire (OSTRC). Pain location using pain mapping (dichotomised: focal/diffuse) and severity during the single leg decline squat. Ultrasound tissue characterisation scans of both patellar tendons. Results: Thirteen participants (22.7%) self-reported PT. Only 3 who reported PT had localised inferior pole pain. Thirty athletes reported pain during the decline squat, 15 described focal pain; 10 diffuse pain (5 missing data). Those with diffuse pain had greater years played [Md = 21 (13–24), n = 10 than focal pain (Md = 12 (7–26), n = 15), p = 0.042, r = 0.3]. Bilateral tendon abnormality was found in 45% of athletes and 15% had unilateral tendon abnormality. Conclusion: Elite male basketball athletes self-reporting PT had heterogeneity in pain location. When focal pain with loading was used as a primary definition of PT, ‘jumpers’ knee’ was not common in this cohort. This study found that abnormality of the patellar tendon was common and did not correlate with symptoms.