Hi, @amywood20 Welcome to Connect. I'm sorry your post has not seen any responses yet but there are a number of discussions out there about scar tissue in the knee after knee replacements, and I would think this is fairly similar. I was not familiar with lateral release so I googled it. How did you kneecap get out of alignment?
Here is a link to one of the discussions about scar tissue, but if you put "scar tissue knee" in the search field above you will find even more.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/scar-tissue-after-knee-replacement/?pg=55#comment-317322
What really caught my attention in your post was that the PA did a surgery? I had no idea that PAs could do that since that is only a two year program and becoming a surgeon is a much lengthier and involved process. Perhaps that varies by state, or maybe since it's arthroscopic it is considered to be minor enough to not require a surgeon.
I hope you find what you are looking for in one of the existing discussions. I am not as young as you at all but I was very active until I fractured my femur at the end of July so I completely understand how not being able to do what you had been doing and what you want to do is distressing. I also have a similar situation now with this problem causing others -- my knee is hurting! I am sure that is due to the way I am walking/limping from the fracture. These things can cause such a chain effect.
JK