RECURRENT DISLOCATION OF THE PATELLA

Abstract

The treatment of recurrent dislocation of the patella has been a fertile field for the growth and development of surgical ingenuity. As many as sixty different operative procedures have been devised for its correction. This study of 27 dislocating patellas treated at the New York Orthopaedic Dispensary and Hospital confirms my belief that one or two types of procedure, either separate or combined, are sufficient to give a stable symptomless knee. This is true for all types of cases. It is important also to emphasize relatively early operative treatment, since with this condition osteoarthritis is prone to occur sooner than in a normal knee. CLINICAL FINDINGS The group of cases here presented comprises 10 in which the condition was bilateral and 7 in which it was unilateral, or a total of 27 dislocating patellas which were treated by operation at the New York Orthopaedic Dispensary and Hospital in a thirteen