Neglected rupture of the patellar tendon is a rare but well recognised comp
lication of knee trauma. We present the case of a 43-year-old man who susta
ined a complete rupture of the patellar tendon of his left knee following a
fall. Clinical diagnosis was delayed by 2 months and was confirmed by magn
etic resonance imaging. Treatment began with skeletal patellar traction and
was followed by late reconstruction of the patellar tendon and transfer of
the gracilis and semitendonosus tendons supplemented by figure-of-eight te
nsion band wiring.