Patellectomy after fracture. Long-term follow-up results with special reference to functional disability

Twenty-eight out of a group of 38 patients, who had undergone a patellectomy during the period 1950-70, were investigated clinically and radiologically. The results were compared with the subjective symptoms of the patients to see if there was a correlation. The follow-up period was 7.4 years on average. A good subjective result was reported by only six patients. The predominant subjective symptoms were weakness of the limb and pain on movement and/or exertion. The most usual findings were atrophy of the quadriceps muscle, crepitation, and palpation tenderness. The muscular power of the quadriceps was found to be greater than or equal to 75 per cent of the power of the intact knee in only seven cases (25 per cent).