OBJECTIVETo investigate therapeutic effects of arthroscopic treatment for acute patellar dislocation.

METHODSFrom May 2002 to March 2009, 36 patients with acute patellar dislocation were treated with arthroscopy, including taking out of the free cartilage chips, relaxing lateral retinaculum and tight suturing medial retinaculum. Among the patients, 6 patients were males and 30 patients were females, ranging in age from 12 to 30 years (averaged, 20.5 years). Fifteen patients had the dislocations on the left an 21 patients had the dislocations on the right. The development of condyles of femur and Q trianglel were detected by preoperative radiology. The Lysholm criteria system was used to evaluate the clinical effects.

RESULTSAll the patients were followed up, and the duration ranged from 13 to 60 months (averaged, 42 months). All the patients had no complications such as infection, and the knee range of motion recovered to normal without pain. The Lysholm score improved from preoperative (28.9 +/- 2.5) to postoperative (95.1 +/- 8.4). All the patients had no redislocation.

CONCLUSIONAcute dislocation of the patella is an potential devastating injury. The arthroscopic treatment for acute patellar dislocation has advantages such as less trauma, faster recovery and more reliable.