EJMS

Abstract

Background: Anterior knee pain is a common orthopaedic complaint. Symptoms usually respond favourably to conservative therapy, but up to 25% of patients have persistent symptoms, often lasting many years. Patellar maltracking and patello-femoral malalignment are important in the aetiology of anterior knee pain. Nonoperative treatment has been the main stay of therapy for patellofemoral instability. The surgical correction of patellofemoral instability can be proposed when conservative treatment fails. Arthroscopy has been incorporated into the treatment of patellar instability as It provides excellent visualization of associated intra-articular pathology and allows the surgeon to assess patellar tracking. 1 Objective: The primary concerns of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of arthroscopic patellar realignment and to discuss the topic as regard anatomy, biomechanics, clinical, radiological diagnosis, indication, contraindication, scoring, technique, follow up and results of the proximal realignment of the patella using arthroscopic patellar realignment technique that eliminates the need for an incision. Patients and methods: This prospective case study included 12 males and 18 females they aged from 18 to 40 years. Follow up period ranged from 16 to 24 months with the mean 20 months. Results: According to the kujala knee score after surgery there were 8 patients with excellent results, 13 patients were with good results , 8 patients were with fair results and 1 patient with poor result. Conclusion: Arthroscopic management of patellar maltracking is a reliable technique, but still technically demanding for treating patellar maltracking which gives satisfactory results.