Posterior Knee Capsulotomy for the Relief of Patellofemoral Joint Pain: Long-Term Follow-up

Lack of full extension of the knee is a disabling condition that sometimes needs to be treated by a posterior capsulotomy of the knee. However, it is not clear if the full extension acquired can be kept throughout long-time follow-up. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 20 patients diagnosed with minimal flexion contracture of the knee who underwent open posterior capsulotomy between 1990 and 2010. All patients (100%) presented with a preoperative Lysholm's score classified as poor or fair (mean=58.6 +/- 13.8, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 52.3-64.9), but 14 patients (70%) experienced an improvement to good or excellent scores (mean=87.6 +/- 8.8, 95% CI: 83.6-91.6) after the follow-up. The mean preoperative angle of fixed flexion was 25.0 +/- 9.1 degrees (95% CI: 20.8-29.2), and it decreased to 4.2 +/- 4.1 degrees (95% CI: 2.3-6.1) after the follow-up. We conclude that posterior capsulotomy of the knee proved to be an effective procedure to treat properly patients with painful knees secondary to lack of full extension after 10.3years of follow-up.