Patella Pro

Due to severe knee pain, Emily had to accept significant limitations to her everyday activities at just 12 years of age. But giving up her sport was simply unimaginable for Emily, a keen handball and basketball player. From walking normally to going up stairs, Emily increasingly complained of pain in both knees. Her parents, too, were becoming concerned about their athletic daughter’s future. Would Emily continue to be able to play basketball and ride her beloved skateboard?

The family was advised to try a therapy approach involving treatment with a brace that had already proven effective in numerous cases. The Patella Pro, the result of cooperation between Ottobock and recognised experts, would re-align Emily’s patellas – according to the knee flexion – in the anatomically correct position, thereby relieving her from her pain.

No sooner said than done. After about six weeks of wearing the Patella Pro on both knees, Emily is finally actively involved in sports again. Walking, climbing stairs, playing basketball – it’s all possible, without any pain. Emily’s O&P professional has told her that she won’t need to wear the two braces for the rest of her life. “At some point the muscles in my knees will be able to hold my kneecaps in the right position on their own again, and then I won’t need any braces at all anymore.” One small wish still remains unfulfilled for the 12-year-old: a Patella Pro brace that is suitable for swimming and that she can wear to the pool sometimes.

Judith was a professional athlete until eight years ago, when she began to experience recurring knee pain – not just in sports but also when performing everyday movements. Her diagnosis was anterior knee pain. Only the Patella Pro allowed her to become active again. In the video, Judith talks about how the brace from Ottobock has improved things for her. The Patella Pro uses a dynamic patella re-alignment mechanism unlike any other in the world.

Do you have pain at the front of your knee joint? If so, your physician may have already diagnosed you with “patellofemoral pain syndrome”, meaning pain in the front of the knee joint.

This is one of the most frequent diagnoses in orthopaedics. When people have knee problems, this is due to anterior knee pain in one out of four cases. Incidentally, women are affected more often than men.

This condition can have a variety of causes. Excessive strain on the patellofemoral joint is often thought to trigger anterior knee pain.

Normally the kneecap (patella) is guided on the femur, as in a track. In the case of anterior knee pain, the patella is often displaced. It slips outwards and causes pain.

The patella can become displaced especially during knee flexion from 10° to 30° because tracking is comparatively weak in this range. With greater flexion (> 30°), the patella is firmly seated in its “holder”. The risk of maltracking is then low.

For patients with anterior knee pain, smaller flexion angles are especially critical, as these can relatively quickly result in the patella shifting outwards. This is precisely where the Patella Pro comes in with its unique mode of action. Thanks to its dynamic re-alignment mechanism, it tracks the patella precisely to the middle of the joint, i.e. centres it. This relieves the joint cartilage. We call this process “dynamic” because the patella is only ever tracked as much as the respective movement demands.

At the beginning of flexion, when the patella is not yet sufficiently guided in its “bony track”, the brace tracks it specifically, thus supporting the overstrained musculature. If the knee joint is flexed further, the patella glides into the “track” of the thigh bone.