Is There a Correlation Between Reported Knee Pain and Fluid at the Distal Insertion of the Iliotibial Band in Runners?

Dusty Marie Narducci; Walter C Taylor; Daniel P Montero; Jennifer R Maynard; Christine Q Nguyen; Ryan Cudahy; George Pujalte

doi:10.7759/cureus.28116

Is There a Correlation Between Reported Knee Pain and Fluid at the Distal Insertion of the Iliotibial Band in Runners?

Cureus. 2022 Aug 17;14(8):e28116. doi: 10.7759/cureus.28116. eCollection 2022 Aug.

Authors

Dusty Marie Narducci¹, Walter C Taylor², Daniel P Montero³, Jennifer R Maynard², Christine Q Nguyen², Ryan Cudahy², George Pujalte²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
² Department of Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, USA.
³ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, USA.

Abstract

Objective To determine whether there is a correlation between pain and the amount of fluid present at the distal insertion of the iliotibial band (ITB) in runners, as measured by USG. Method Our retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated 100 male and female runners prior to the start of a race. A valid and reliable questionnaire collected demographic, pain, and training data. If a runner reported knee pain, a numeric pain rating scale was used to record the degree of pain. Participants then underwent USG on both knees to determine the presence or absence of fluid at the distal insertion of the ITB. Result We found no statistically significant correlations of fluid measurements with pain score, running experience in years, or age. In addition, we found no other differences in fluid measurements between those with and without knee pain or between the sexes. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the presence or absence of fluid at the distal insertion of the ITB does not correlate with knee pain in runners, regardless of age, running experience, or sex.

Keywords: distal; fluid; iliotibial; pain; runners.