[Patellofemoral instability in children and adolescents]

Dislocation of the patella is one of the most common knee injuries in childhood and adolescence. After detailed clinical and radiological clarification, conservative functional treatment with special orthotic devices is most commonly applied in patients with a primary dislocation without concomitant injuries; however, the redislocation rate after conservative treatment has been reported in the literature to be between 35% and 70%, depending on the risk factors present. Therefore, numerous surgical treatment options exist which are sometimes again associated with high redislocation rates and others can lead to early arthrosis of the patellofemoral joint when used indiscriminately. Many scientific contributions on the topic notably in the last two decades have increased the understanding of patellofemoral instability. The comprehensive knowledge of the causes for a persisting instability of the patella has made the treatment more efficient and precise but also more complex.