A rare case of irreducible knee dislocation in a seventy-three-year-old male

Knee dislocations usually can be treated by closed reduction, although a small number must be reduced surgically. A seventy-three-year-old patient sustained a knee dislocation while skiing, with entrapment of the medial capsule and the medial retinaculum in the femoral notch. There was no evidence of any vascular or nerve injury. Open reduction with transverse dissection of the medial retinaculum led to reduction. We achieved an excellent result by external fixation and early aggressive rehabilitation without repair of the avulsed cruciate ligaments.