Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
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In Brief: Because posterior knee pain is a relatively uncommon patient complaint, its etiology
is challenging and often elusive. The differential diagnosis for posterior knee pain can be vast,
so clues for distinguishing causes are important. Many clinicians are unfamiliar with this
complicated anatomic area and may not have a standard clinical evaluation to establish a cause
of the patient's pain. Review of several known causes of knee pain can provide the examiner
with a more comprehensive list of potential disorders to consider as differential diagnoses when
patients present with posterior knee pain.
It is critical that the examiner obtain a good history when evaluating patients who have
posterior knee pain. Information regarding the onset, duration, location and quality of pain
(using the visual analogue scale), aggravating and alleviating factors, past injuries, operations,
and other treatments, including medications, procedures, rehabilitation, and orthotic use, can
aid with diagnosis. Also significant is knowing whether the pain truly arises from a local source
or is being referred from a more distant source, such as in sacroiliac dysfunction or radicular
pain.
Soft-tissue and tendon injuries are perhaps more common causes of posterior knee pain than
are vascular, neurologic, and iatrogenic injuries, but these less common origins should not be
overlooked in patients who present with posterior knee pain (table 1).
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
Distinguishing Symptoms
Physical Findings
Meniscal tear
Tendons
Hamstring injury
Gastrocnemius tendon
calcification
Popliteus tendon injury
Ligaments
Posterolateral corner injury
Blood Vessels
Popliteal artery entrapment
syndrome
Nerves
Common peroneal nerve
entrapment
Tibial nerve entrapment
Iatrogenic
Postsurgical arthrofibrosis
Bioabsorbable tacks
Other
Degenerative joint disease
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
Anteroposterior and lateral knee radiographs may show gross formation of a mass. However, if
suspicion for a tumor is high, an MRI with contrast should be obtained for further diagnostic
workup and management. MRI is a useful imaging study, because it can help clinicians
distinguish location, expansion, and characteristics of the tumor. For example, in pigmented
villonodular synovitis, the tumor may clinically mimic a meniscal tear, but MRI can be used to
distinguish between these two entities.6 Similarly, another advantage of a contrast-enhanced
MRI is that one can differentiate a solid tumor from a ganglion cyst, which will only have rim
enhancement.7 MRI can also aid with preoperative staging and planning as well as
postoperative follow-up. In addition, angiography may reveal further anatomic information
about the content of the mass and show any meaningful displacement of nearby vascular
structures. Treatment options may include resection, amputation, radiation, and
chemotherapy, depending on the stage and grade of the lesion.
Affected Tendons
Posterior knee pain can arise from acute tendon strain or chronic injury resulting in tendinitis of
any of the musculotendinous structures in or about the popliteal fossa. Ganglion cysts in the
presence of tendon injury may also contribute to the pain. Some of the more commonly injured
structures posterolaterally include the biceps femoris and the popliteus tendons.
Posteromedially, injuries to the semitendinosus and semimembranosus tendons are more
common. Although they are unusual occurrences, strains or ruptures of the plantaris muscle
may cause posterior knee pain.
Hamstring injury. Although the hamstring tendons consist of the semitendinosus,
semimembranosus, and the long and short heads of the biceps femoris, the most commonly
injured of these is the short head of the biceps femoris. Most hamstring injuries occur around
the musculotendinous junction. However, injury to the tendon itself near the posterolateral
corner of the knee may occur during rapid bursts of running or jumping or during sudden
deceleration. Increased susceptibility to this injury may be from inadequate stretching during
warm-up exercises, decreased flexibility, and muscle fatigue. Endurance sports, such as
running or cycling, are also associated with injury to the biceps femoris tendon.
Physical examination may reveal tenderness at the distal aspect of the biceps femoris tendon
as well as pain during knee extension. If the clinical diagnosis is in doubt, an ultrasound or MRI
may be done. If peripheral neurologic symptoms are present, advanced imaging modalities
may help to rule out a concomitant hematoma that may externally compress adjacent
structures, such as the tibial nerve. MRI may also help physicians determine the prognosis for
return to sport. If more than 50% of cross-sectional muscle or distal myotendinous tears
occur, athletes usually require more than 6 weeks before they may return to sports-specific
programs.8 An earlier return to play may be associated with subtle muscle strength
abnormalities, which can lead to a recurrence of symptoms and possibly worsen the original
tear.9
Gastrocnemius tendon calcification. A rare cause of tendon injury accompanied by
posterior knee pain is calcification of the gastrocnemius tendon as calcium pyrophosphate
dihydrate (CPPD) becomes deposited.10,11 Anteroposterior and lateral knee radiographs may
reveal this phenomenon. CPPD deposition may be seen more often among the elderly; the
involvement of the gastrocnemius tendon is relatively rare in younger patients.12
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The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
Popliteus injury. The examiner should also test the popliteus tendon as a possible pain
generator. The popliteus muscle and tendon (figure 1) stabilize the posterolateral corner of the
knee and prevent anterior translation, especially during downhill running. Injury to the
popliteus tendon, therefore, is most commonly seen in athletes who run. The posterolateral
corner is a complex area that is often misunderstood and underrepresented as a cause of
posterior knee pain.
On examination, the popliteus muscle may be tender in the posterolateral corner of the knee.
However, a provocative maneuver that typically provokes pain involves examining the patient
in the prone position with internal rotation of the tibia. The patient then flexes the knee against
resistance. Reproduction of symptoms during flexion suggests injury to the popliteus tendon.
Treatment of a popliteus tendon injury consists of the RICE protocol, gradual stretching
exercises in multiple planes, closedkinetic-chain eccentric strengthening exercises, such as
slow, multidirectional lunges that patients progress to doing on nonlevel surfaces, and gradual
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The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
return to athletic participation. Since these muscle fibers have a rotational component,
rehabilitation should emphasize exercises with rotation.
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
Tests, accompanying injuries, and treatment. The external rotation recurvatum test
(figure 3) can help confirm posterolateral rotary instability. The examiner performs the test by
holding the patient by each great toe and observing any side-to-side differences in
hyperextension, varus, and tibial external rotation.
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
The dial test also assesses posterolateral rotation of the tibia on the femur to detect
posterolateral knee instability. The patient is supine with 30 of knee flexion and with the foot
extended over the side of the examining table. The examiner externally rotates the foot while
stabilizing the thigh and observes the amount of rotation of the tibial tubercles. Increased
external rotation on the injured side indicates a posterolateral corner injury. If this maneuver is
performed with the knee flexed to 90 and less rotation is seen than when performed at 30,
then an isolated posterolateral corner injury is probable. If the injured knee rotates more at
90, then a concomitant PCL injury is likely. Since isolated posterolateral corner injuries are
relatively uncommon and exam maneuvers are often negative, this injury is frequently missed.
The posterior drawer test is more sensitive for detecting PCL-only injury.
Paresthesia and weakness from common peroneal nerve injury may also be present with a
posterolateral corner injury. Researchers have documented that 15% of patients with a
posterolateral knee injury also have a common peroneal nerve injury.13 In their review, Veltri
and Warren14 noted that hemorrhage can be a contributing factor to peroneal nerve palsy in
acute posterolateral corner injury despite an intact nerve. They also noted that in some cases
of lateral and posterolateral corner knee injury, the concomitant varus thrust may lead to
direct injury of the peroneal nerve.
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
Radiographs taken while the patient is standing may illustrate abnormal widening of the lateral
joint space and arthritis. However, MRI is superior at delineating injury to the structures of the
posterolateral corner.
Nonoperative treatment includes early mobilization with gait retraining and hip girdle
strengthening. The focus should be on quadriceps strengthening, since the quadriceps are most
likely to atrophy in chronic posterolateral instability. Some acute ligamentous injuries warrant
operative repair in the first 3 weeks after injury to provide the optimal result.
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
the patient was asymptomatic. The same patient later returned to the clinic with complaints of
pain and had tenderness in the central aspect of the popliteal space in the opposite knee. This
area was also explored operatively, and fibers from the medial gastrocnemius were found to be
the cause of tibial nerve entrapment. This area was also decompressed, and in 2 weeks, the
patient was asymptomatic. In a case series, Saal et al18 also reported nine patients who had
tibial nerve lesions in the popliteal space with local tenderness over the area of entrapment.
Iatrogenic Injuries
Traumatic injuries or soft-tissue injuries that have been surgically repaired may provoke
posterior knee pain.
Postsurgical arthrofibrosis. Posterior knee pain can arise from posttraumatic arthrofibrosis,
a condition in which scar tissue proliferates after trauma. Occasionally, patients with a history
of injury or surgery may experience arthrofibrosis, and it usually produces limited range of
motion, stiffness, and pain. Affected patients experience posterior knee pain that becomes
worse with knee extension. A typical example may occur after an acute anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL)deficient knee is reconstructed before the patient regains adequate range of
motion. In such cases, hypertrophic tissue may adhere to the ACL graft site or graft itself. This
additional scar tissue contributes to posterior knee pain, because it can prevent the patient
from regaining full range of motion postoperatively, particularly the terminal 5 of extension.19
Therefore, delaying the operation approximately 3 weeks after ACL injury should decrease the
likelihood of arthrofibrosis and reduce the overall incidence of posterior knee pain. Aggressive,
accelerated rehabilitation programs that emphasize passive extension, muscle reeducation,
cryotherapy, and functional rehabilitation may decrease the incidence of this disabling
condition.20
Bioabsorbable tacks. Another potentiator of postoperative posterior knee pain is placement
of bioabsorbable tacks. Because the menisci are important for weight bearing within the knee,
new systems of repair, such as bioabsorbable tacks, to prevent future degenerative joint
disease have been employed in arthroscopy. Bioabsorbable tacks are T-shaped fasteners with
barbed shafts. The tacks generally maintain structural integrity for approximately 4 to 6
months and fully resorb in 3 years. In one retrospective case series,21 a relatively high
incidence (31%) of focal posterior knee pain was referred from the site of tack placement,
despite a stable knee 6 weeks after surgery. However, pain resolved between 4 and 6 months
postoperatively, about the time the tacks begin to resorb. The tack length, number used, and
meniscal tear type were irrelevant to symptoms.
Knowledge of this transient phenomenon is important to the examiner evaluating patients who
have postarthroscopic posterior knee pain. Symptoms may include tenderness of the posterior
knee and sharp posterior knee pain that is exacerbated by knee extension. Physical therapy
protocols should not be altered, as there is no difference in knee stability or return to activity
in these patients. Reassurance is important during patient evaluation, since symptoms typically
resolve as the tacks resorb.
The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
With these descriptions and diagnostic tips (see table 1), examiners should have a more
comprehensive understanding of potential pain generators about the posterior knee. While
many different sources can cause posterior knee pain, review of potential causes should give
providers a firm understanding of disorders to consider in their diagnostic workup.
References
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The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Posterior Knee Pain and Its Causes
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CME |