Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery
Use of a hinged external knee fixator after surgery for knee dislocation
Section snippets
Methods
Forty patients with 43 knee dislocations were evaluated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital from August 1996 through March 2000. Thirty-six patients with 39 knee dislocations underwent follow-up ranging from 14 to 41 months (mean, 24 months). Four patients with 4 knee dislocations were lost to follow-up. All patients underwent primary evaluation, surgical treatment, and follow-up by the senior surgeon (J.P.S.). The patients were prospectively evaluated and underwent clinical
Results
Clinical follow-up in our study averaged 24 months, with a range of 14 to 41 months (Table 1). Group A patients’ average follow-up was 21 months. Group B patients’ average follow-up was 25 months. Group A patients (12 knees) underwent 27 knee ligament procedures with 2 failures. Group B patients (27 knees) underwent 102 ligament procedures with 30 failures (29%). This difference was significant with a P value less than .05. There were 7 ACL reconstructions, with one failure (14%), in group A,
Discussion
Knee dislocations are severe injuries that are being recognized with increasing frequency as the spectrum of injury is broadened and awareness of spontaneous reduction is heightened.5, 11, 13 Recent papers have noted that knee dislocations can occur without rupture of either the ACL or the PCL,3, 4 although bicruciate injuries are more common. Expanded definitions of knee dislocation often include gross or radiographically proven dislocation; injury of multiple knee ligaments with
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