Hinged Total Knee Replacement for an Arthritic Knee Following a Neglected Knee Dislocation: A Case Report

INTRODUCTION: Neglected knee dislocations are a rare entity. They present with gross degenerative changes and ligament laxity. There is no defined protocol for the treatment of arthritic knees in neglected knee dislocations. CASE REPORT: A 54-year-old male presented with pain and limp over his left knee after sustaining a knee dislocation 25 years back which was unsuccessfully reduced by open methods twice. Since the patient was a farmer and involved in heavy labor activities, we decided to avoid arthrodesis of his knee and help him ambulate immediately without any functional limitations. We performed a hinged total knee arthroplasty (TKA) which corrected the deformity, ligament laxity, and pain and helped him gain complete range of movements. The patient was followed-up till 30 months after the surgery with excellent clinical and radiological results. CONCLUSION: A hinged TKA is a reliable technique to correct a neglected knee dislocation in a single sitting provided thorough pre-operative assessment and post-operative physiotherapy are done.