Anterior knee pain is pain that occurs at the front of the knee.

The health care provider will perform a physical examination of the knee to confirm and assess the pain.

Tests that may be performed to rule out possible structural damage to the knee or connective tissue include the following:

• Joint CT scan
• Joint x-ray
• MRI scan of the knee

Common causes of runner's knee include rotation (pronation) and lateral (away from the middle) pulling of the kneecap. This causes the kneecap to become misaligned with the connective tissues and muscles involved with knee movement.

Anterior knee pain may also be caused by:

• Arthritis
• Cartilage injury
• Pinching of the inner lining of the knee with knee motion (synovial impingement, or plica syndrome)
• Poor alignment of the patellofemoral joint (where the kneecap rubs against the lower portion of the thigh bone)
• Softening of the cartilage under the kneecap (chondromalacia patellae)
• Tendinitis of the quadriceps tendon (where the thigh muscles attach to the top of the kneecap) or patellar tendon (where the kneecap attaches to the shin bone)