[Femoropatellar pain syndrome. Conservative treatment and results 7-10 years following Maquet operation].

Owing to the largely unsatisfactory results achieved to date following surgery for chondromalacia patellae, and owing to our greater knowledge of the functional relationships within the knee joint, the range of aetiological factors in femoropatellar pain needs to be expanded. Functional variants in the muscular and ligamentous system must be considered as well as anatomical variants. On the basis of symptomatology and the results of clinical examination, two extreme forms can be distinguished, depending on ligamentous laxity and muscular stabilisation capacity. Physiotherapy must be determined by these. There remain few cases in which surgery is indicated.