Patella Dislocation : Dislocation of the patella occurs when the knee cap gets pulled from its actual position, out of the grove on the end of the thigh bone. The treatment depends on understanding why the kneecap dislocation occurred. Some people may have bone alignment or anatomy issue. Some people may have torn ligaments.

If the doctor decides that surgery is the best option, the next step would be to determine which surgery can be apt for the patient, to prevent further dislocations. The patient may come in to visit the doctor with several symptoms like knee pain, muscular weakness or core weakness and so on.

When the kneecap is dislocated, the possible damage can be in the cartilage of the knee, which can lead to the increased risk of arthritis in the knee. It can also lead to muscular weakness or core weakness. When multiple dislocations occur, surgery is the best option out.

Let’s take a look at surgical treatment available for patella dislocation

• Lateral Release: It is the simplest and most common surgery performed when patella dislocation occurs. In this method, the knee joint capsule is cut on the outside of the knee joint to prevent knee cap being pulled outside the knee. The idea is to loosen the pull towards outside and to center the knee cap within the groove on the end of the thigh bone
• Medical Imbrication or Reefing: it is a procedure to tighten the tissue towards the inner side of the knee. This can tighten the structures on the inner side of the knee
• MPFL Repair or reconstruction: this is the most modern procedure to perform, which addresses an important ligament called patellofemoral ligament. When the kneecap dislocated, the MPFL is always torn. In acute injuries, the MPFL can be repaired through surgery. After repeated dislocations, the new MPFL ligament needs to be recreated. This can be done from the existing ligament or tendon from any other part of your body or from a donor. The newly constructed MPFL ligament is then attached to thigh bone and the kneecap which can hold it on a proper position.
• Bone realignment: Also known as Fulkerson procedure, this surgery is aligning the extremity in the knees by positioning the tibial tubercle on the shin bone. The tibial tubercle, a bump at the top of the shin bone, is attaching the patellar tendon. By positioning the tibial tubercle, the patella is pulled more into the inner side of the knee, there are numerous variations to this surgery

Dr Chirag Patel has specialized in Joint Replacement, Revision Joint Replacement, Hip Resurfacing, Computer Assisted (Navigation) and Unicondylar Knee Replacement Surgeries. He treats several sports injuries of the hip and the knee joint, including arthroscopic (key hole) surgeries such as Ligament Reconstruction, Femoroacetabular Impingement and Labral Repair. He can also help you in resolving your patella dislocation through surgical treatment after proper analysis of the condition.

You can reach Dr Patel at +91 7574887777