Concerned about removing the patella (knee cap): Patellectomy

Posted by sandbarry1 @sandbarry1, May 5 7:36am

Trip and fall on knee cap 3 years ago. 4 open surgeries later, Ortho wants to remove patella completely. Concerned about this and wonder if anyone has had this done?

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | May 7 12:31pm

Hi @sandbarry1, I can imagine you're concerned about living without a knee cap. Although this article is from 2009, I thought you may appreciate the story from a Mayo Clinic patient on the procedure she underwent at Mayo Clinic to replace a patella,
– A Life Restored https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/a-life-restored/

Have you asked your orthopedic surgeon about replacing the patella?

sandbarry1 | @sandbarry1 | May 7 2:06pm

From some quick research, it appears that this procedure is unheard of anywhere near me (New York, Massachusetts) even at the major medical centers. It sounded great at first glance, but the reality of travel and lodging costs in addition to medical and rehab costs makes it seem somewhat implausible.

I do very much appreciate your sending me the article, and will discuss it at length with my ortho on 5/24. Thank you.

bigmuscle72 | @bigmuscle72 | Nov 7 2:07pm

Hello
New to this forum. I found this interesting study on long term effects of patellectomies. It is dated 2009, and is a a 20 year retro study. Unfortunately, I cannot include the link as against guidelines for the forum. Just google 20 years study retro study on patellectomies.
I had a patellectomy 6 weeks ago. VERY long story of major knee tendon issues. My step Dad had one, ironically, 4 months ago. He has done fantastically. There is not much on the net about this procedure, and the long term effects on function, run the gamut.

I also saw the above link on the Mayo procedure: miracle procedure. I have not run across this anywhere in my research.