title: Recurrent dislocation of the patella. Relation of treatment to osteoarthritis.
abstract: Eighty-one knees surgically treated and twenty-six conservatively treated for recurrent dislocation of the patella in seventy-eight patients were studied. The average follow-up on the surgically treated knees was eight years and on the conservatively treated knees, sixteen years. In the non-surgical group dislocations tended to become less frequent with advancing age and there was very little evidence of osteoarthritis. After the sixty-nine tibial tubercle transfers there was a 20 per cent recurrence rate; further procedures were often needed, and the incidence of late osteoarthritis was disturbingly high. After the twelve soft-tissue corrections without movement of the tibial tubercle, dislocation recurred in three, but late osteoarthritis was not seen.
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D004204:Joint Dislocations / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D010329:Patella / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies