CHRONIC RECURRENT DISLOCATION OF THE PATELLA

Dislocations of the patella, both acute and chronic, have been known in medical writings since the earliest times, and from the time of Hippocrates to the present a rather large literature on the subject has been built up. Various classifications have been used in describing the condition, but probably the simple division into (1) acute traumatic dislocation, (2) congenital dislocation and (3) chronic recurrent dislocation seems to clarify the various types as well as any other system. Acute primary dislocations due to severe injury are not within the scope of this paper except for the fact that such a lesion may be the actual cause and fore-runner of a recurrent condition. As such it is well to remember that treatment must be prolonged and made analogous to that of a dislocated shoulder, in which recurrence also is to be feared. Congenital dislocation, from the standpoint of classification, probably should be