NEW YORK – Pop star Britney Spears suffered a severe injury to her left knee during a late-night music video shoot on Tuesday, June 8 at around 11:30 PM. Spears "a wrong step" during the choreography and her knee gave out beneath her, resulting in a fall, according to a statement by her label Jive Records. She had just completed filming a scene with guest rapper Snoop Dogg for the video of her latest single "Outrageous," to be featured in the upcoming movie "Catwoman". The incident took place at the Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Queens New York City. Spears was rushed to a local hospital, where an MRI scan revealed floating cartilage in her knee. The following day Spears underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove cartilage from her left knee.
She will have to keep her leg immobile for six weeks with her knee in a hard brace, followed by at least eight to twelve weeks of physical rehabilitation. Due to this latest aggravation of an old dance injury, Spears has cancelled her North American Onyx Hotel tour to fully recover. The 36--city tour was to begin on June 22 and feature many choreographed numbers. Spears stands to lose a total $9 million in ticket sales and merchandising from the tour’s cancellation.
Spears has had a history of knee problems affecting her career. In March, she cancelled two shows because of a knee injury suffered onstage while performing in Illinois. Four years ago she also underwent knee surgery. This is her second knee injury of the year.
Floating cartilage often requires surgery because a piece of free floating cartilage can interfere with normal joint function, inflict physical trauma to other local structures within the knee and impede proper circulation. Cartilage does not easily repair itself; when torn it can degenerate and lead to irreversible osteoarthritis. Knee arthroscopy allows physicians to “see” inside the knee joint via the insertion of a camera and special instruments through small incisions, ascertaining and treating the damage.
