Injury/Rehab Patella Dislocation

[MarkJohnson#1]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with patella dislocation and more specifically surgery related? I recently dislocated my patella playing footy and have what's known as recurring dislocation of the patella (10th time in about 5 years) and after many attempts to get it right without great success I'm beginning to explore surgery. The surgery suggested to me involves an arthroscopy to clean out the damaged cartilage, tightening/loosening of certain tissues around the knee to increase stability as well as detaching the patella tendon from the tibia and reattaching more medially. Anyone had something similar done and if so how did the knee recover (pain free, range of motion, changed walking/running gait, recurrence of dislocation etc)?

Cheers

 

[wonderin1]

Hey mate I had exactly the same problem. The surgery I had was exactly as you described. My problem was my tibial tuberosity (where the patella tendon attaches) was out so that increased the q angle. So I they had to chisel is off and screw it back to realign properly. Surgery also included arthroscope and lateral release to loosen the pressure the itb and other muscles and tendons were creating. Ever since the surgery I have not had any more dislocations.

 

[james Dean]

Take care of it soon, Too many dislocations for me and I have arthritis now

 

[MarkJohnson#1]

Hey mate I had exactly the same problem. The surgery I had was exactly as you described. My problem was my tibial tuberosity (where the patella tendon attaches) was out so that increased the q angle. So I they had to chisel is off and screw it back to realign properly. Surgery also included arthroscope and lateral release to loosen the pressure the itb and other muscles and tendons were creating. Ever since the surgery I have not had any more dislocations.

That's great to hear mate. Did you return to the footy field after that? Also since the first time I did it I've always had trouble doing squats or just squatting down in general due to pain behind the knee cap, did you experience this prior to surgery and if so how about afterwards?

Cheers mate

 

[George Washington]

Geeze this thread is scaring me.

I've had 4 dislocations, 2 on each side.

They were when I was a teenager, have since strengthened up all the muscles and haven't had another dislocation for 2 years. Hope I've grown out of it...

 

[Belnakor]

Take care of it soon, Too many dislocations for me and I have arthritis now

how often?

i've had 10-15 but only 1-2 in the last 5 years. Bloody hurts at the time but no long term effects. Hope i don't end up with long term pain.

If i was the OP i'd just quit footy or have surgery, the strengthening exercises do jack for most people. A friend of mine had the surgery has been golden ever since, i've trudged on without and kind of regret it now.

 

[james Dean]

how often?

i've had 10-15 but only 1-2 in the last 5 years. Bloody hurts at the time but no long term effects. Hope i don't end up with long term pain.

If i was the OP i'd just quit footy or have surgery, the strengthening exercises do jack for most people. A friend of mine had the surgery has been golden ever since, i've trudged on without and kind of regret it now.

In my right knee I probably had about 20-25 (just a guess) between the ages 14-20, these came from all sorts of different activities eg., Football, Soccer, Basketball. Towards the end it just got ridiculous, my knee would slide out from simple actions like swinging a golf club or jogging. My left knee I dislocated approximately 3-5 times, the first time I did this was horrid and I'll spare you the details but I ended up on crutches for over a week.

 

[Belnakor]

In my right knee I probably had about 20-25 (just a guess) between the ages 14-20, these came from all sorts of different activities eg., Football, Soccer, Basketball. .

youch that is alot.

I've got really loose joints so tended to not be so bad. Though the first time i did it was super bad. yuck, will stop remembering now.

 

[MarkJohnson#1]

Cheers for the replies guys, hoping to get as much info as I can about the surgery before I make the decision. I'll throw a few questions out there in case anyone who has had the surgery or know someone who has and might be able to answer.

Firstly, since the first time I dislocated the patella 5 years ago I've always had trouble doing squats or just squatting down in general due to pain behind the knee cap, did anyone experience this prior to surgery and if so how about afterwards. Did you return to the footy field or other sport after the surgery? How long was the recovery time and what sort of stages of recovery were there? Did it change the way you walked or ran? Would you consider your knee back close to what it was before you injured it?

Any info would be greatly appreciated as I am finding it hard to find information out there and wanted to hear from people's experiences.

Cheers

 

[Jaybeee]

Pain behind the kneecap whilst squatting/ascending/descending stairs is relatively common when you have laxity or a lack of control around the kneecap. This is due to the kneecap being irritated by rubbing against the bone beneath as the knee bends. Generally post surgery you will spend at least 6 weeks in a Richards splint (straight legged splint) followed by a gradual rehabilitation program targeting you glutes and quads aimed at improving your control around the knee. The majority of people I have worked with make a full recovery and return to their sport without any problems.

 

[Trollaroo]

Cheers for the replies guys, hoping to get as much info as I can about the surgery before I make the decision. I'll throw a few questions out there in case anyone who has had the surgery or know someone who has and might be able to answer.

Firstly, since the first time I dislocated the patella 5 years ago I've always had trouble doing squats or just squatting down in general due to pain behind the knee cap, did anyone experience this prior to surgery and if so how about afterwards. Did you return to the footy field or other sport after the surgery? How long was the recovery time and what sort of stages of recovery were there? Did it change the way you walked or ran? Would you consider your knee back close to what it was before you injured it?

Any info would be greatly appreciated as I am finding it hard to find information out there and wanted to hear from people's experiences.

Cheers

Ignore the name cause i aint trolling lol
But i dislocated my knee 5 years ago and damaged the meniscus cartilage and had majorty of it removed. Since then i had alot of trobule doing squats and walking down stairs and down hills, I saw a surgeon today and he said it was most likely mal-tracking and explained thats squatting puts pressure on the back of the kneecap which is why dont have full movement of it. My knee is pretty shitty and unstable i struggle to do anything involving any form of twisting(great excuse not to dance with the misses) i had a MRI done and the surgeon wants to go in clean up and smooth out the cartilage and give a lateral release,

 

[gfhawthorn]

dislocated and broke patella, snapped mcl, torn cartilage (hell), had surgery to repair mcl, patella piece re-attached with dissolving screw, 2 months on crutches so far, they said i'll probably get arthritis but hopefully science will catch up by then. other than that prognosis is good, should be walking in a month, 100% in 6, returning to full activities in 12. get the surgery, i'd never want to go through this again.