The Maquet procedure. A retrospective review

A retrospective review of 20 patients (21 knees) treated by a Maquet tibial tubercle elevation between 1981 and 1985 was conducted with a minimum follow-up period of one year. The mean follow-up period was 29 months. Seventeen patients responded to a questionnaire designed to assess their subjective and functional result, with 12 patients also available for follow-up examination. There were eight complications. The final results from the procedure were not affected by the duration of preoperative symptoms, the number or type of previous surgical procedures, the magnitude of preoperative patellofemoral crepitation, or the degree of chondral surface degeneration. Patients under the age of 35 years and those with a history of patella dislocation were less satisfied with the operation than the other patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. Satisfactory results were observed most frequently in the male patients, those with a Q angle less than 20 degrees, and others in whom no form of internal fixation was used, and those patients with a follow-up period of less than three years. The use of internal fixation was associated with a striking increase in the incidence of complications.