Patellofemoral Joint Programme

Patellofemoral Joint Programme

An in depth series of courses exploring the knee joint
This course is very good not only for PFP subjective assessment but overall knee assessment
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Introduction

The knee is a complex joint made up from many different anatomical structures. It is joint that is subject to large, dynamic forces over the course of our lives and can often be a cause of pain and disability. In this series of short courses, knee specialist Claire Robertson guides you through many of these conditions and the latest evidence based approaches to their management are identified and explained.

Aims

This programme of courses aims to help you become a more effective clinician when treating conditions of the knee.

Outline

This programme consists of five separate online courses and an assignment:

  1. Subjective Examination of Patellofemoral Pain
  2. Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis
  3. Differentiating PFJ and Tibiofemoral Problems
  4. Fat Pad Syndrome
  5. Knee Crepitus
  6. Final Assignment

Target audience

This course is aimed at Physiotherapy and Physical Therapy clinicians, students and assistants. Other interested professionals such as athletic trainers, occupational therapists, nurses or medical doctors interested in this subject are also invited to participate.

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PhysioPlus course tutor - Claire Robertson

Presented by: Claire Robertson

Patellofemoral Expert. Consultant Physiotherapist, Researcher, Lecturer.

View all courses by Claire Robertson

Certificate of completion

10 Physioplus points

Keywords: crepitus, fat pad, femur, knee, osteoarthritis, patella, tibia

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Programme courses

This programme involves the following courses (please note that this programme is under development and more courses will be added in the future):

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Subjective Examination of Patellofemoral Pain

The subjective examination is the starting point in the assessment of any knee condition. Patellofemoral pain is an umbrella term encompassing a wide variety of etiologies. It is important to focus your investigation and a good subjective examination will help guide your physical examination. Asking key questions in your subjective examination helps to identify the root cause of pain and aggravating factors so as to ensure an efficient physical examination leading to appropriate management. This course will describe the basic anatomy of the knee. It will provide an understanding of how the mechanism of injury can relate to various pathologies. It will identify key questions to ask in the subjective examination that will help to identify the cause of patellofemoral pain as well as explain the common causes of patellofemoral joint dysfunction and the likely presentation thereof.
1.1 points
0% Complete
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Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis

Patellofemoral osteoarthritis occurs in almost 25% of the general population. It is a significant contributor to pain and disability. Research and clinical practice often focuses on tibiofemoral osteoarthritis but the patellofemoral joint often develops osteoarthritis before the tibiofemoral joint. There are a variety of risk factors that contribute to patellofemoral osteoarthritis. Being able to recognise and specifically target these could potentially slow down the progression of the condition as well as effectively manage the symptoms associated with patellofemoral osteoarthritis. In this course, Claire Robertson presents the latest literature on patellofemoral osteoarthritis and the effective management of this condition.
1.1 points
0% Complete
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Fat Pad Syndrome

Fat Pad Syndrome or Hoffa’s disease is a common source of anterior knee pain. The infrapatellar fat pad has also been identified as a key component in knee osteoarthritis and inflammation. This course discusses the different roles of the fat pad and gives you practical techniques for accurate diagnosis and proper management for conditions relating to this structure.
1 points
0% Complete
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Knee Crepitus

Crepitus of the knee can be a very alarming symptom for people with knee problems and even those who have no other knee symptoms. It can provoke avoidance behaviours and anxiety responses because of lack of understanding of what the noise is and where it is coming from. Recent studies are showing that a lot of knee crepitus is actually physiological and does not have any impact on knee strength, function and pain. In this course, Claire Robertson explains exactly what crepitus is and how we should educate patients who have “noisy knees”
0.8 points
0% Complete
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Differentiating Patellofemoral and Tibiofemoral Pain

The knee joint is comprised of the patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint. There are a variety of structures within both joints that can cause pain in and around the knee joint. Differentiating between the patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint as a source of symptoms helps to manage a person’s symptoms effectively. Information can be obtained from the subjective and objective examination to obtain a comprehensive clinical picture. In this course, Claire Robertson describes the different assessment findings that can help you determine whether the persons knee pain is arising from tibiofemoral or patellofemoral structures.
0.8 points
0% Complete
Additional courses to complete this programme coming soon...