Atraumatic patellar prosthesis dislocation with patellar tendon injury following a total knee arthroplasty: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Total knee arthroplasty is a well-established procedure with gratifying results. There is no consensus in the literature whether to routinely resurface the patella while performing total knee arthroplasty or not. Although an extremely rare occurrence in clinical practice, patellar prosthesis dislocation is a possible complication resulting from total knee arthroplasty. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a rare case of atraumatic spontaneous dislocation of patellar prosthesis in a 63-year-old Caucasian man of British origin with patellar tendon injury. The patient was treated successfully through a revision of the patellar component and tendon repair. In two years follow-up the patient is asymptomatic with no sign of loosening of his patellar prosthesis. CONCLUSIONS: A thorough understanding of knee biomechanics is imperative in performing total knee arthroplasty in order to achieve a better functional outcome and to prevent early prosthetic failure.