Bipartite patella

[Anna]

My 12 yr old son who plays football was diagnosed with bipartite patella in his right knee.
One year ago he suffered a helmet blow on his knee. With rest, and knee support the pain went away.
This year, once again he is attempting to play football. He has found, that with all the running in his pre season training the pain is coming back, so much he can't run as fast and he has begun to limp.
I'm looking for information on how to manage this so he can continue to play the short season (2 months)
Last year when the pain was not as severe he was able to continue playing with a light support knee brace.
I would like to purchase a more supportive knee brace. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated/
I have seen blogs from people older ( 14yr 16 yr and 22yr) who are suffering from this, but I'm interested in hearing from people who have managed to continue their sports with this condition

[ben232]

[QUOTE=Anna;1171]My 12 yr old son who plays football was diagnosed with bipartite patella in his right knee.
One year ago he suffered a helmet blow on his knee. With rest, and knee support the pain went away.
This year, once again he is attempting to play football. He has found, that with all the running in his pre season training the pain is coming back, so much he can't run as fast and he has begun to limp.
I'm looking for information on how to manage this so he can continue to play the short season (2 months)
Last year when the pain was not as severe he was able to continue playing with a light support knee brace.
I would like to purchase a more supportive knee brace. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated/
I have seen blogs from people older ( 14yr 16 yr and 22yr) who are suffering from this, but I'm interested in hearing from people who have managed to continue their sports with this condition[/QUOTE]

Hi

The first thing to establish is whether or not the pain is coming from the bipartite patella. A bipartite patella is common (1 in 50 individuals) and is commoner in males than females (9:1).

It is important to note that a bipartite patella is usually asymptomatic and of no importance to the individual. Occasionally there is a stress response at the site of the junction of the two bones, where there is oedema and sometimes cystic change here.

So the first thing is to confirm an exact diagnosis. There are other common causes of knee pain at this age, all with different, and specific treatments. If you can find your way to a good sports injury specialist/orthopaedic surgeon/etc they should be able to work this out. Alternatively MRI should give a precise diagnosis of the cause of the knee pain. If you don't have the correct diagnosis you are unlikely to get the right treatment.

See http://www.mobilediagnostics.info/knee.html for some examples of knee scans.

Hope this is helpful

Ben