Treatment options for patellofemoral instability in sports traumatology

Patellofemoral instability not only involves lateral patellar dislocation, patellar mal-track-ing or subluxation but can also cause a limit-ing disability for sports activities. Its underly-ing causes are known as morphological anom-alies of the patellofemoral joint or the mechan-ical axis, femorotibial malrotation, variants of the knee extensor apparatus, and ligamentous insufficiencies often accompanied by poor pro-prioception. Athletes with such predisposing factors are either suffering from unspecific anterior knee pain or from slightly traumatic or recurrent lateral patellar dislocation Treatment options of patellar instability are vast, and need to be tailored individually depending on the athlete’s history, age, com-plaints and physical demands. Different con-servative and surgical treatment options are reviewed and discussed, especially limited expectations after surgery