Dislocated Patella

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.

I dislocated my knee yesterday. Was walking through a corriodor in my clinic at work, must have turned awkardly and there was a sickening crunch. I have never felt such pain, and I had a 9 lb baby. I fell on the floor and when I looked at my knee my knee cap was sat on the lateral aspect of my leg -definately not where it should be.

I remember thinking oh that shouldnt be there and that really hurts and I pushed it back - OWWWWWW. If I thought dislocating was painful putting it back was 10 times as bad. So I sat there for a while feeling very sick and in lots of pain; Fortunatley my house officer was in clinic with me and he was absolutely fantastic.

Took me a good 10 minutes to get off the floor, and then had an xray which showed nothing broken. Spent the next few hours in A and E and now have a rigid splint and have been told minimal walking until I go to fracture clinic next week.

Now have any of you guys had any experience of how long it takes this type of injury to heal, I know that back to full fitness may be months, but the reason I ask is because I am doing a big charity event the first week of July which is only 4 and a half weeks away, I will need to be able to manage the weight of my motorcycle and I am getting a bit worried if I am going to be able to do it.

Any ideas??

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Ouch! You poor thing! From my experience (clinically, not personally) I'd say you're probably gonna have that knee immobiliser for 4-6 weeks, but of course it's always best to ask your Orthopod.

Hope you're not in too much pain and feel better soon :icon_hug:

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Specializes in ITU/Emergency.

So sorry to hear about your knee! OW! I have looked after lots of patients with dislocated knees and so I know how much it hurts. You were very brave to push it back in place, I don't know if I could have been so brave.

As for treatment, it depends. Some orthos like to immoblise you for 6 weeks and some less but however long, you will need an assessment of the ligaments to make sure you haven't torn anything(they may do an MRI, though it is the NHS so prob not :uhoh3: )and then physio input to strengthen your knee. The aim of the game is to ensure that you have a stable joint.

Hope everything goes ok for you...sending best wishes!

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poor you, the pain must have been horrendous. you should plan to look after your knee for a while as the ligaments will have been stretched when you dislocated it, and they will take ages to settle.

physiotherapy will help you and show you how to strengthen the muscles around the knee to help support it.

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Specializes in NVICU, NSICU.

Hello! I dislocated my L patella while twist-bending in the gym few years back. And like you, I pulled it back also (ouch!) and fainted afterwards because of the PAIN!! My fault is that I didn't seek professional help and just endured the pain. I was in college and the Science building where most of my courses are just have 1 elevator! The most painful part is going upstairs while keeping your knee straight w/o crutches and immobilizer. It took me more than a month before I can easily bend my knee. I don't know how you'll be able to ride the bike if it's still swollen.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

ouch, poor you, hope you feel better soon. I know I tore my meniscus muscles a couple of times and was laid up on crutches for 4-6 weeks and then gentle exercise for a week or so after. I would say it depends on recovery time and how you are feeling but best to ask advice when you go back next week

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.

Thanks everyone, I thought it would be a while :o I'm just not good at sitting around with my feet up.

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Specializes in renal,peritoneal dialysis, medicine.

my friend had the same injury on her hen night, slipped in a pool of beer in a pub!!

she got married the following week with the cast thing on

walked around on her honeymoon afterwards for two weeks then had about two weeks physio.

she had a fair size white mark where she couldnt tan her leg when she came back hehe

sounds like 4-6 weeks is about right

hope you feel better soon

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Best wishes for a quick recovery!

I have dislocated my patella 4 or 5 times over the last 25 years, and have seen quite a change in thinking regarding treatment of the injury.

The first few times, I was casted for 4-6 weeks, then followed up with PT. The last time ( 3 years ago), I was put in an immobilizer for only 1 week, with the ortho explaining that longer periods of immobilization were not associated with better outcomes, only longer recovery. When the immobilizer was removed, I was placed in a bulky stabilizing brace for the next 4 weeks. It was so cumbersone that I could neither fully straighten or bend my knee. I lost some mobility with that most recent injury, and blame it on that darned brace.

PT is very important to strengthen the quad muscles, which will help to keep that pesky patella in place!

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Specializes in med/surg.

Poor you!! Nothing to add to the massive amount of good advice - just wish you better soon!!!

EN that's a really funny story - although I bet your friend didn't find it so at the time!!

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Specializes in Stroke Rehab, Elderly, Rehab. Ortho.

ouch that must hurt...... hope you have a speedy recovery...I agree with Tina that it is likely you will be in a knee Immobiliser for a few weeks.....but I am not an expert...

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

So sorry to here about your knee I cannot imagine how horrible it was for you. i wish you a speedy recovery

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