Diagnostic Ultrasound in Calcific Patellar Tendinopathy

Physical therapists who examine anterior knee pain in outpatient, sports, or direct-access settings and who want a plain-language account of how diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound was used to identify and track calcific patellar tendinopathy in a published case report.

Licensed physical therapists in outpatient orthopaedic, sports, and direct-access practice. The material is also relevant to athletic trainers and to physical therapist assistants who carry out interventions under the direction of a physical therapist.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course summarizes a single peer-reviewed case report and adds no claims beyond it.

Young I, Salzman A, Dunning J, Prall J, Fischer S, Forbes B, Escaloni J. Calcific Patellar Tendinopathy. A Case Report Integrating Diagnostic Ultrasound Throughout a Multi-Modal Treatment Approach. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. 2026;21(9):879–889. doi:10.26603/001c.167449. Open access under CC BY-NC 4.0.

What this design can support

A case report describes what happened to one patient. It can show how imaging was used and what changed over time, but it cannot establish that the treatments caused the changes.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the diagnostic ultrasound findings that the authors used to distinguish calcific patellar tendinopathy from non-calcific patellar tendinopathy in this patient, including how the involved and uninvolved knees compared.
2. Name the components of the multi-modal treatment approach reported in this case and the point in the episode of care at which each was added or discontinued.
3. State the authors' conclusions about integrating diagnostic ultrasound in a direct-access setting, together with the limitations they identified for a single case report.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast: Imaging a Calcified Patellar Tendon (about nine minutes)
3. Calcific Tendinopathy and Why the Patellar Tendon Is an Unusual Site
4. Examination Findings and What the Baseline Scan Showed
5. Manipulation, Ultrasound-Guided Dry Needling, and Progressive Loading
6. Pain, Function, Strength, and Tendon Appearance Through Eleven Months
7. What One Case Can and Cannot Support, and the Authors' Conclusions
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course summarizes a single peer-reviewed case report and adds no claims beyond it.
2. Young I, Salzman A, Dunning J, Prall J, Fischer S, Forbes B, Escaloni J. Calcific Patellar Tendinopathy. A Case Report Integrating Diagnostic Ultrasound Throughout a Multi-Modal Treatment Approach. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. 2026;21(9):879–889. doi:10.26603/001c.167449. Open access under CC BY-NC 4.0.
3. What this design can support
4. A case report describes what happened to one patient. It can show how imaging was used and what changed over time, but it cannot establish that the treatments caused the changes.