Document Type : Case Report

Authors

• marcus vinicius bianchi ¹
• Leonardo Comerlatto ²
• Cristina vicioli ³
• Ramesses Akamefula ⁴
• Marcio Balbinotti Ferrari ⁵

¹ Hospital cristo redentor de porto alegre

² Hospital Cristo redentor de porto alegre

³ Universidade Luterana do Brasil

⁴ Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

⁵ Hospital de clinicas de porto alegre(HCPA)

Abstract

Objective: Quadriceps tendon ruptures are rare injuries affecting the knee extensor mechanism, typically occurring in middle-aged patients with underlying pathologies. Bilateral simultaneous quadriceps tendon ruptures are even more uncommon, and almost all reported cases in the literature are associated with an underlying disease.
Case Presentation: A 62-year-old Caucasian male complained of pain in the anterior-superior aspect of both knees following a fall while walking, during which his knees were in a semi-flexed position. Physical examination revealed a loss of active knee extension in both limbs and a palpable gap between the superior pole of the patella and the quadriceps tendon. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of both knees confirmed bilateral quadriceps tendon ruptures. Both injuries were addressed simultaneously using the same technique. At an eight-month follow-up, the patient was asymptomatic, ambulating normally, and had full knee extension with 120° of flexion bilaterally. However, hypotrophy of the quadriceps muscle was noted bilaterally.
Conclusion: Proper evaluation and treatment of these injuries are crucial to achieve good outcomes, as they can lead to significant knee pain and disabilities.

Keywords

• trauma
• quadriceps tendon
• case report
• tendon rupture

Main Subjects

• Orthopedics