Arthroscopic therapy of patellar luxation. Operative technique and clinical results

Summary Between January 1986 and August 1995, we treated 86 patients suffering from lateral displacement of the patella with arthroscopic medial tightening and lateral release after a conservative functional treatment remained unsuccessful. 49 patients were available for follow-up studies. 29 patients were treated after primary dislocation of the patella, and 20 patients after recurrent dislocations (2–20). The lateral release was performed by arthroscopy in 28 patients and in 21 patients in an open procedure. The mean follow-up time was 47.3 months. The rate of reluxation was 8 %. In the opinion of the patients, 44 (90 % of the follow-up) operations were evaluated as good/very good, the average Lysholm score was 87.3 ± 13.9. The clinical results were influenced by the point of time of the operation. Patients with monoluxation showed a lower rate of reluxation (3 % vs. 15 %) and superior functional and subjective results than those with recurrent dislocation. However, there were no significant differences between the open and closed performed lateral release. We recommend the technique presented here as a minimal-invasive method especially for patients with monoluxation of the patella.