Kneecap Dislocation

[TomCollins]

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Anyone have this or know much about it. My kneecaps (both of them) dislocate occassionally and it is easily the most painful thing ever. I have mentioned it to doctors and they seem to brush it off. Im sure if I saw a specialist they would be more helpful but have yet to do so. I looked online and found limited info.

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I had this problem in high school (one of my kneecaps would be turned slightly and hurt like hell until I could straighten it). I used to do Taekwondo and Mogul Skiing a lot, so my knees got destroyed pretty easily. When I was at a chiropractor, she pushed it back into place (it was always slightly out of line), and the problem went away. I only had it happen once since, and I pushed it back on my own and it went away.

[Drew16]

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describe your procedure for relocating it

i presume it is dislocated laterally rather than medially

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usually my knee is in a semi bent position when it happens. I just grab my knee cap with both hands and very slowly try to straighten my leg whilst gently guiding my kneecap back to its "hole". Straightening it hurts like a sombitch so i can just move it a little at a time. Sometimes it pops right back in. Sometimes it doesnt even get all the way out, I can feel it going but then it just goes right back. It has taken me 40 minutes before to get it back in though.

[hoterdoc]

next time, make sure you have your hip flexed as much as possible.
i.e. have your thigh as close to your stomach as possible (as though you were in a SEATED position, rather than a STANDING position.)

this will shorten the distance from the quadriceps point of attachemnt at the pelvis, thus looseningn the muscle, and thus making it easier to pop back in.

ICE, ICE, Ice, when it hapens.
and wear an ACE wrap for a few days afterwards

I am not an orthopaedist, but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, before.

I dont know what would be available long term, but I can be certain that they would say strengthening up your quadriceps would be the first place to start to tighten things up (in the hope of taking up the slack).

I know these hurt, as they usually take a bit of sedation and analgesia to reduce.

Aces,
and good luck
doc

[Drew16]

thanks man, I appreciate the tips. I usually ice after it happens, I will start Ace-ing it also. I will def. try flexing my hip. Anything to get that in easier and quicker I will do.

Probably after the first of the year Im gonna try to see a specialist, Im starting to worry im gonna mess my knees up beyond repair and be unable to do anything active.

[hobbes9324]

Here we go....

1) You DON'T need an MRI, or anything of that nature. The kneecap is NOT part of the knee joint - so you aren't messing up the articular surfaces or the internal ligaments of the knee when your kneecap goes east/west on you.

2) You DO need to see an orthopedist, and most likely you have surgery in your future, although if you're lucky some PT and a good exercise program might get you by. Probably not, though.

3) Patellar dislocations (Kneecaps) are easily my favorite things to fix - you can't screw them up, and patients are very happy. Knee dislocations, OTOH, are pretty much disasters - for you west coasters, the San Jose State football player who lost his leg had a knee dislocation - despite perfect care, somewhere in the neighborhood of 30% of all truely dislocated knees result in amputation - due to vascular injuries that can't be fixed....

MM MD

[Drew16]

thats comforting.

[protocol]

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the San Jose State football player who lost his leg had a knee dislocation


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not true

Parry sustained a compound fracture of the tibia and the fibula in his right leg while blocking during a kickoff return against Texas-El Paso on this same field on Oct. 14, 2000. A teammate rolled on the back of Parry's leg after a collision with an opponent.

After a bacterial infection set in and could not be controlled, Parry's leg was amputated about seven inches below the knee nine days after the game.

[tdarko]

Drew,

It sounds like you have a "bucket handle tear" of the Meniscus.

There are two types of meniscal injuries:
1) tearing of the meniscal attachments to tibial plateau and joint capsule
2) crush injury between femoral and tibial condyles

A) bucket handle tear-> longitudinal tear
B) radial tear-> tear running perpindicular to the margins

What happens with the bucket handle tear is a "locking of the knee joint"-> the torn meniscus rolls up and gets trapped in the intercondylar notch, so then there is an inability to completely extend the leg.

It is the toughest knee tear to see in an MRI and the most commonly missed. It is a very common injury with younger patients. They occur from quick change of direction w/ cleats fixed in the ground (soccer), twisting forces at the knee in the shot and discuss events, or you can even tear it skiing by catching a ski tip.

I searched for some pictures to give you a better idea but it is really hard to look at it and get a good understanding of what is going on. Just know that it is a tear and now when your leg goes into knee flexion the torn part get caught in the "bucket handle" and are now stuck, so then when your knee is going into extension it is locked.

The thing with this injury is that it is really only painful when it locks up. And yes it is excruiciating when it locks up...I completely feel for you.

I don't know a whole lost about the procedures to fix it. I do know that it is actually a controversial topic and that there are simple procedures and complex, many believe that there is no need for a complex surgery and that a now conservative approach is best. I am sure you can look this stuff up b/c I don't really know anything about it, I just know how the knee works.

[scott1]

I was going to type something up, but this does a pretty good job of explaining what I was going to say.

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/pate...ecapdisloc.htm

I've dislocated one knee 3 times. The first time the kneecap inverted, so it was out of the groove on the outside of my leg and flipped so that the side that should face the knee joint was facing out. This REALLY sucked.

1) Strengthen the quad - this helps keep everything in place - the kneecap and the ligaments.
2) buy braces that look like this for any activity that involves cutting or twisting. http://www.recoverybraces.com/hely-w...stabilizer.htm
You should be able to find something similar in a sports store for about $20 US.
3) Every time you dislocate a kneecap the ligaments get stretched, thus making it more likely to occur in the future. Worst cases they will go in an tighten those ligaments by shortening them. My doctor told me this was next for me if he ever saw me again.

[hoterdoc]

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Drew,

It sounds like you have a "bucket handle tear" of the Meniscus.


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doubt it

as was correctly stated earlier, by someone else, menescii are INSDIE the knee joint,

the Patella is OUTSIDE, the Knee joint