title: Patella fracture after medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction using suture anchors.
abstract: The medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) acts as a soft tissue restraint to lateral subluxation of the patella, and is frequently damaged following patellar dislocation. A number of techniques for repair or reconstructions of the MPFL have been reported. We report two cases of patellar fracture following MPFL reconstruction utilizing suture anchors and bone tunnels that do not completely traverse the patella. The first case occurred seven months after surgery and the second case was at six weeks following surgery. There have been previous reports of patellar fracture following MPFL reconstruction, particularly when patellar tunnels completely traverse the patella. The authors decided to use suture anchors to reduce the risk of patellar fracture, and they feel that the fractures reported in this paper resulted from surgical error rather than system error. We feel that this is an important learning point when initially using this technique, and should be disseminated to other surgeons who undertake this surgery.
authors.affiliation: William Harvey Hospital, Kennington Road, Willesborough, Ashford, Kent, TN24 0LZ UK. Electronic address: bsd14@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Baljinder Singh
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Dhinsa
authors.forename: Jagmeet Singh
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bhamra
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dunnet
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zahn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010329:Patella / Q000293:injuries*; D031222:Patellar Dislocation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D012086:Reoperation / Q000379:methods; D018570:Risk Assessment; D053441:Suture Anchors / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
keywords: Dislocation; Fracture; Knee; Medial patellofemoral ligament; Patella