[Surgical treatment of habitual patella dislocations by combined soft tissue surgery]

Since January 1988 21 operations using a modified Madigan and Goldthwait method have been carried out on 18 patients suffering from recurrent dislocation of the patella. This soft tissue procedure is presented here in its individual operational steps. The average age of the patients was 22 years and the majority were female (6:1). The mean follow-up time was 19.3 months. One patient who had both knees operated on reported recurrent luxation 6 months after the operation in one knee and subluxation in the other. None of the other patients suffered further dislocations. In the opinion of the patients, 17 (81%) knee operations were evaluated as favorable (good/very good, satisfactory) while 4 (19%) were considered unsatisfactory. All patients had stable knee joints and a full range of motion. The modified soft tissue operation presented here can be recommended for all patients with recurring patella dislocations if previous conservative functional therapy remains unsuccessful.