The ‘Best Practice Guide to Conservative Management of Patellofemoral Pain’

This study aimed to deevelop a comprehensive contemporary guide to conservative management of PFP outlining key considerations for clinicians to follow. Multimodal intervention including exercise to strengthen the gluteal and quadriceps musculature, manual therapy and taping had the strongest evidence. Evidence also supports use of foot orthoses and acupuncture. Interview transcript analysis identified 23 themes and 58 subthemes. Four key over-arching principles to ensure effective management included-(1) PFP is a multifactorial condition calling for an individually tailored multimodal approach. (2) Immediate pain relief should be a priority to gain patient trust. (3) Patient empowerment by emphasising active over passive interventions is important. (4) Good patient education and activity modification is essential. Future research priorities include identifying risk factors, testing effective prevention, developing education strategies, assessing the influence of psychosocial factors on treatment outcomes and how to address them, evaluating the efficacy of movement pattern retraining and improving clinicians’ assessment skills to facilitate optimal individual prescription.

Effective management of PFP requires consideration of a number of proven conservative interventions. An individually tailored multimodal intervention programme including gluteal and quadriceps strengthening, patellar taping and an emphasis on education and activity modification should be prescribed for patients with PFP. This study provides a ‘Best Practice Guide to Conservative Management of Patellofemoral Pain’ which outlines key points of consideration.