Introduction:
Snapping at the lateral knee can be caused by a variety of pathologies
involving surrounding soft tissue structures such as the popliteus,
semitendinosus and/or gracilis tendons, IT Band syndrome, lateral
meniscus tears, or rheumatoid nodules.1-4snapping In
rare instances, lateral knee pain may also be caused by the distal
tendon of the biceps femoris long head shifting over the fibular head.5-6 Regardless, the various differential diagnoses
should be properly ruled out by a careful history, a detailed physical
exam, and advanced imaging.
Few cases of snapping biceps femoris tendons have been recorded in the
literature across various case reports. Causes of the snapping biceps
femoris tendon have been attributed to anomalous insertions (most
prevalent), 7-16 tendon subluxation,17-18 abnormalities of the fibular
head,19-23 or secondary to trauma. 6,
24 Conservative treatment is usually attempted first and consists of
physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications as needed. Surgery,
which is usually the last resort and the most effective, consists of
resecting the anomalous tendon insertion or correcting any fibular
deformities.
In this report, we present a patient with lateral knee pain from an
accessory insertion of the snapping biceps femoris tendon and discuss
surgical exploration and repair. The patient was informed that his case
would be submitted for publication and he provided consent.