Authors
Abstract
Background: Knee dislocation, although a rare injury, is a severe injury which can endanger the limb viability or cause a significant impairment in the knee function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knee function and knee osteoarthritis in the patients who had sustained an acute traumatic knee dislocation . Methods: In a retrospective study, 19 consecutive patients with knee dislocation who were treated by different therapies were studied during 5 years in a teaching hospital in Urmia, Iran. Vascular injuries lead to amputation in 3 patients. The follow-up study was performed on the remaining 16 patients within 37±13 months. The patients were evaluated for knee stability, range of motion and the "Tegner-Lysholm" knee function scores. The development of knee osteoarthritis was classified according to Kellgren and Lawrence classification . Results: The knee function was excellent in one, good in 3, fair in 9, and poor in 3 cases. The younger patients and knees with wider range of motion had better "Tegner-Lysholm" scores. The knee scores had significant correlation with the severity in the class of dislocation. The time of surgical reconstruction, whether early or delayed, had no significant effect on the outcome. The mean knee range of motion for the 12 patients who were treated surgically was 120±15 degrees and for the 4 patients who were treated non-surgically was 115±28 degrees. There was a significant correlation between the "Tegner-Lysholm" scores and knee range of motion. Conclusions: Knee dislocation is a very severe complex trauma and normal knee functional outcome is not often achieved. The knees with the more extensive ligament injuries have less favorable outcomes. Younger patients and knees with larger range of motion had better functional outcomes.
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