Patellar Instability and Dislocation
Marc Darrow, MD, JD When you are diagnosed with patellar instability, your doctors have concluded that your patella, or knee cap, shifts and moves out of the grove it sits in at the patellofemoral joint. This can be the result of an obvious and traumatic impact injury or degenerative wear and tear to the quadriceps tendon and the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL), patellomeniscal ligament, patellotibial ligament, and retinaculum, the major connective tissue that hold the knee cap in place. In degenerative conditions and post-traumatic injury pain, functional issues, and eventually osteoarthritis will develop. The knee cap or patella dislocations is