Summary

• Overuse syndrome of the paediatric population that results in traction apophysitis of the tibial tubercle.
• Typically occurs during an adolescent growth spurt in young athletes who participate in sports that involve repeated knee flexion and forced extension. Males are affected more often than females.
• Diagnosis is clinical; patients typically present with pain, swelling, warmth, and localised tenderness to palpation over the tibial tubercle.
• Conservative treatment is successful in most patients and consists of activity modification, ice, stretching, and strengthening exercises.
• Plain x-rays of the knee are used to rule out other lesions of the proximal tibia if pain is unilateral and/or severe and persistent.
• Up to 10% of patients may experience pain as adults due to formation of a separate ossicle at the tibial tubercle.
• Rarely, when this condition fails to respond to non-surgical management, excision of the affected part of the tibial tubercle predictably relieves symptoms.