Surgery

Hi- I am a 33 year old female. During high school I marched and swam and always had problems with knee dislocations. The first time I dislocated my knee I was working and fell and dislocated my left knee. We could not get it to go back in and I was transported to the hospital with it still out. They wanted to take xrays right away because there have not been a lot of dislocated knees that they have had a chance to xray because the knee was already back into place. After this incident, they told me that in order to fix the problem that I would need to have surgery and that there would be a 50/50 chance that it could happen again. I opted not to have the surgery at that point because I was too active in activites and I did not want to ruin that. I wore a leg brace and did PT for a month. Thinking it was fixed I went back to my every day life. I disclocated the same knee at least 15 more times before I really messed it up. When I was 28, I was out dancing with frineds and dislocated again for the last time. I opted to have surgery this time. Talking with my orthopedic doctor, we came to realize that both my knee caps were high and that they never had really been in place. The surgeon called my surgery soft tissue surgery which basically meant a lateral release and then they cut the VMO muscle from my knee, cut the muscle shorter and reattached it. I was in a straight brace for 2 weeks before surgery and 6 weeks after. I went through almost 9 months of very intense and painful PT. I have not regreted my decision to have the surgery because I have not dislocated my knee in over 5 years. (Knock on wood!!) I only regret not doing it sooner. I think if I had done it in high school the PT would not have been as intense. My surgery worked wonders and I haven't had the pain of dislocation. I however dislocated my right knee last night and hope that it was just a fluke and that I won;t have to repeat what I had to do 5 years earlier.

I only suggest that you do what is right for you. I would definiely recommend finding out as much information that you can on the surgery though so that you know what to expect. Ask lots of questions!!

I am a 19 year old female who was diagnosed four months ago (December) with patella femoral syndrome, and had dislocated my knee cap. I had dislocated it twice a few years earlier but had no serious reprocussions so I hadn't even seen a doctor(I had popped it back in myself). After the diagnosis I underwent a month of physical therapy and wore a knee brace during any physical activity. Then I dislocated my knee again and the doctor recommended patella-realignment surgery but I also decided to undergo more physical therapy. I am currently in therapy but I dislocated my knee yet again, only two weeks into therapy. Should I get the surgery? I am/was very active with a variaty of sports and wanto to return to as many of them as possible as soon as possible. Any feedback would be great!