Introduction:

Knee pain responds to multiple causes such as the iliotibial band syndrome that mainly affects young patients who practice certain sports activities.

Objective:

To update and offer information on iliotibial band syndrome.

Methods:

The search and analysis of the information was carried out in a period of 92 days - from July 1 to September 30, 2020, with the words iliotibial band syndrome, iliotibial band friction syndrome AND lateral knee pain. A bibliographic review of 186 articles published in PubMed, Hinari, SciELO and Medline databases was carried out using the EndNote search manager and reference manager, Forty citations were selected to perform the review, 38 of them were from the last five years.

Development:

The most important anatomical characteristics related to the iliotibial band are mentioned. They refer to the maneuvers used, as well as the most useful imaging tests. The main entities involved in the differential diagnosis are presented. Regarding treatment, conservative and surgical modalities are mentioned.

Conclusions:

The iliotibial band syndrome is a disease, main characterized by lateral knee pain, which increases with physical activity. Conservative treatment constitutes the first option; in addition, surgical treatment is justified after six months of limited response to the first option of therapeutic management.

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