Osteoarthrosis in runners with knee pain.

A clinical and radiological study of the knee joints of twenty middle and long distance runners, complaining of knee pain, was carried out. Osteoarthrosis of varying degree was found in six of the runners. A torn meniscus requiring surgery was found in one athlete, and another had considerable ligamentous laxity - both of these conditions predispose to the development of degenerative changes. Degenerative changes were significantly associated with the presence of genu varum (p less than 0.01) and history of severe injury (p less than 0.05). The number of years spent training was significantly greater in the affected group than in the unaffected group (p less than 0.05).