Elmslie-Trillat, Maquet, Fulkerson, Roux Goldthwait, and Other Distal Realignment Procedures for the Management of Patellar Dislocation: Systematic Review and Quantitative Synthesis of the Literature

PurposeTo evaluate clinical outcomes, rate of recurrence, and complications following distal realignment procedures (Elmslie-Trillat, Maquet, Fulkerson, Roux Goldthwait, and other distal realignment procedures) performed alone or in combination with proximal procedures for the management of patellar dislocation.MethodsA systematic literature review was performed following the PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). A search in PubMed, Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane, Embase, and Google Scholar databases using various combinations of the keywords “patellar,” “dislocation,” “tibial transfer,” “Elmslie-Trillat,” “Roux Goldthwait,” “tibial tubercle osteotomy,” “Fulkerson,” “Maquet,” “procedure,” “clinical,” and “outcome.”ResultsThirty-eight articles were included in the systematic review. A total of 1,182 knees belonging to 1,023 patients were grouped according to the duration of the follow-up period. The overall rate of recurrence was 7% (83 of 1,182 knees). Approximately 5.3% (28 of 520 knees) of the redislocation occurred in the short-medium term, and 8.3% (55 of 662 knees) occurred in the long-term.ConclusionsDistal realignment procedures performed alone or in combination with proximal procedures for the management of patellar dislocation have shown good clinical outcomes and a low rate of recurrence highlighting the efficacy of these procedures. To date no randomized controlled clinical trials are available on the topic.Level of EvidenceLevel IV, systematic review of Level III and IV studies.