Average PT stiffness (N/m) of the dominant leg.

Patellar tendinopathy is an injury with pain mostly located at the proximal region of the tendon and possibly related to changes in patellar tendon (PT) stiffness. However, little is known about the stiffness at different locations within the PT and the reliability of measuring stiffness at these locations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the difference in PT stiffness and reliability of its measurement at different PT locations in non-injured male (n = 24) and female (n = 24) recreational athletes. Tendotonometry was performed in triplet at nine locations on the PT of the dominant leg (proximal, horizontal-midline (HM) and distal, at all three levels: medial, vertical-midline (VM) and lateral) in 90 degrees knee flexion in the resting position. Both in males and females, PT stiffness was higher proximal and distal compared to HM and lower medial and lateral compared to VM. PT stiffness ranged from 702.3 ± 124.6N/m to 882.6 ± 117.7N/m for females and 822.6 ± 124.7N/m to 990.3 ± 141.0N/m for males. With respect to reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient was above 0.9, and the coefficient of variation was below 3% at all nine measurement locations, indicating excellent reliability. In conclusion, PT stiffness is higher at the proximal and distal part of the tendon compared to HM, and lower at the medial and lateral part of the tendon compared to VM. Tendotonometry can reliably be used to measure PT stiffness at different locations on the tendon.

髌腱病（Patellar tendinopathy）是一种主要表现为疼痛位于肌腱近端区域的损伤，其发病可能与髌腱（patellar tendon, PT）刚度改变相关。然而，目前学界对于髌腱不同位置的刚度，以及这些位置刚度测量的可靠性尚缺乏足够认知。因此，本研究旨在探究未受损伤的男性（n = 24）与女性（n = 24）休闲运动员的髌腱刚度差异，以及不同髌腱位置下刚度测量的可靠性。本研究采用肌腱测压法（Tendotonometry），在休息位膝关节屈曲90°时，对惯用腿髌腱的9个位置进行三次重复测量：分别在近端、水平中线（horizontal-midline, HM）与远端三个层面，每个层面均取内侧、垂直中线（vertical-midline, VM）与外侧三个位置。无论男性还是女性受试者，髌腱刚度在近端与远端位置均高于水平中线位置，在内侧与外侧位置均低于垂直中线位置。女性受试者的髌腱刚度范围为702.3 ± 124.6N/m至882.6 ± 117.7N/m，男性受试者则为822.6 ± 124.7N/m至990.3 ± 141.0N/m。就测量可靠性而言，9个测量位置的组内相关系数均高于0.9，变异系数均低于3%，表明该测量方法具有极佳的可靠性。综上，相较于水平中线位置，髌腱近端与远端区域的刚度更高；相较于垂直中线位置，髌腱内侧与外侧区域的刚度更低。肌腱测压法可可靠地用于测量髌腱不同位置的刚度。