Arthroscopic patellofemoral denervation in the treatment of severe patellofemoral arthritis

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of arthroscopic patellofemoral denervation in the treatment of severe patellofemoral arthritis. Methods: 60 cases with anterior knee pain, accompanied with severe pain when walking up and down the stairs or squatting in in our hospital from January 2012 to July 2015 were recruited for arthroscopic patellar denervation treatment, 24 of them were male and 36 female. Their average age was 58.7, and the average course of disease was 11.3 y. After 6 months and 12 months of the treatment, FELLER patellar score were compared with preoperative patellar score, and knee joint CT was conducted to assess patella tracking correction. Complications such as medial patellar dislocation, reflex dystrophy, ischemic necrosis and knee weakness were observed. Results: The average follow-up time was 26.5 months. No complications such as infection or nerve and blood vessel injury, medial patellar dislocation and weakness of knee extension were found. Before and after surgery, FELLER patellar score was adopted to measure patellar tilt angle, there was a significant difference between scores before and after surgery, P ≤ 0.05. Conclusions: Patellofemoral denervation arthroscopic treatment can help patella formation and release lateral retinaculum to relieve and improve the symptoms and achieve the goal of treatment.