The International Patellofemoral Study Group met in Ghent Belgium August 29-31, 2013 under the leadership of past PF Foundation traveling fellow, Fredrik Almqvist.

On April 25th 2009, Ronald Grelsamer, MD and James Gladstone, MD hosted a Patella course at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. It was standing room only, as over 130 orthopedists, physical therapists and allied health professionals listened to a panel of experts taken mostly from the International Patellofemoral Study Group. These included Vicente Sanchez-Alfonso and Fred Almqvist (who flew in from Spain and Belgium respectively), Rick Cautilli from Philadelphia, Jack Farr (Indianapolis), Wayne Leadbetter from Baltimore, Anthony Schepsis (Boston), as well as Elliot Hershman and Eveline Erni (PT) from New York. John Fulkerson, MD, founder of the International Patellofemoral Study Group and of the Patellofemoral Foundation was the Keynote Speaker. (Submitted by Ronald Grelsamer MD) 

Patellofemoral General Agreement Statement from the PFF/ IPSG Consensus meeting sponsored by DJO International on March 6, 2008

• Focal loading can be a cause of PF pain.
• Overuse or at times cyclical overload of soft tissue or bone areas may explain the unusual and sometimes ill defined nature of anterior knee pain in some patients (Dye theory of envelope of load acceptance) Treatment should establish load reduction.
• Patellofemoral imbalance (including but not limited to malalignment) may cause pain by virtue of cyclical soft tissue and/or bone overload.
• Focal supraphysiological loading can, in some patients, be a cause of PF pain.
• Structural damage of articular cartilage does not always result in anterior knee pain. However, there is growing evidence that a subset of patients with chondral lesions may have a component of their pain related to that lesion.

There are many alternatives for non-operative PF pain treatment that should be considered some of which may include medications that affect neural pain transmission.

History, exam, imaging and response to treatment (differential injection, specific unloading, medication and multidisciplinary evaluation) should correlate well and be consistent in order to localize pathology and to make a precise diagnosis. Treatment should be developed based on the most precise diagnosis possible. Persistence of pain may be related to inaccurate appraisal of the cause of pain and/or inappropriate treatment decisions, patient non-compliance or complications of surgical treatment.
A patient’s active participation and understanding in his/her treatment is necessary for optimal results.