Patellar dislocation surgery

The patella is a sesamoid bone (bone integrated within a tendon) that is placed as a sort of a dome in the knee’s anterior and has an important part in the action of the whole joint. The patella actually continues the movement of the quadriceps muscles, and without it, the whole knee couldn’t function properly.

Patellar dislocation is a condition where that anterior bones ‘escapes’ its location – a sort of nook not particularly deep that’s around the patella – mostly to the side of the knee. During the dislocation, it can be seen clearly with the human eye that the knees become ‘curved’ since its anterior part moved under the skin.

Kneecap dislocation comes with great pain and swelling due to the location’s sensitivity, and those suffering from this problem will have difficulty even moving the joint. This and more: in many cases, the knee will bend involuntarily due to the Patellar dislocation and even remain this way until treated.

A dislocated kneecap can occur due to a strong external blow or dealing with a sudden high burden, but mostly due to an improper movement or problematic anatomy of organs in the knee itself or in that nook where the patella is supposed to ‘sit’ normally. Either way, if a dislocation occurs, treatment is of course needed and quick.

General information about Patellar dislocation surgery

Patellar dislocation surgery can be done in certain cases conservatively – by using a special brace to keep the patella in place, alongside physical therapy to strengthen the knee structure and the muscles around it.  However, these treatments don’t necessarily prove themselves in the long run. Either way, where there are recurrence dislocations or when the dislocation caused additional damage in the knee, there’s a fairly urgent need for surgery.

Kneecap dislocation surgery is usually done to strengthen or restore the patella ligament, which holds the bone in place. In other cases, the procedure would also include treatment of other organs in the knee, if they were also damaged.

Preparing for action

The surgery can be done under general anesthesia, in which cases you’ll need to fast for several hours before it starts. However, there are cases where the surgery will be done in localized anesthesia only. Prior to the surgery, the medical staff will perform various imaging tests (like CT) to assess the knee’s general condition

Patellar dislocation surgery course

After the imaging and diagnoses were done before the surgery, the surgeon will approach the treatment. If the patella ligament was damaged but not torn, the doctor will reinforce it and ensure the patella will be held in place. If the ligament was torn, its reconstruction will be done using one of the many ligaments in the knee. This action is also done to stabilize the patella in place.

As said, there are cases where Patellar dislocation causes damages in other organs in the knee as well, like destroying the adjacent cartilage or even hurting the meniscus.  The doctor will treat, of course, such cases as well during the surgery, making it longer and more complicated.

One of the most important things in this context is the healing process after the surgery, which must be accompanied by physical therapy to strengthen the damaged joint. It should be noted that surgeries to strengthen or heal fuse the patella ligament will require relatively short healing, of a few months, but if other treatments are involved in the process, due to accompanying damages, rehabilitation could last 6 months and more.

side effects

Since this is a fairly focused surgery, side effects aren’t many and amount to mostly possible increased bleeding or infection in the surgery location – both phenomena can be treated relatively easily. Another risk is, of course, repeat dislocation: Patellar dislocation surgery doesn’t guarantee 100% success and therefore repeat dislocation is possible even after it, although the chances for that are significantly lower than for a person who hasn’t had the surgery.