Question

A 27 year old female training to be a police officer comes into the clinic complaining of left, anterior, knee pain. She states that while running an obstacle course yesterday she was running on uneven ground and she twisted her knee, causing her to fall. She landed on her left knee and immediately experienced pain. The patient states that she is unable to bear weight and she is unable to move her knee into full extension or flexion. The patient has considerable swelling and she states that when it first happened there was a bump (or deformity) on the outside of her knee. Lastly, the patient states that when she does try to weigh the bear it feels like her knee is going to give out. The patient does not recall hearing a pop. Based on this information, come up with a differential diagnosis, identify possible structures involved, and come up with a treatment plan for this individual.

Answer 1

The patient here gives following history : running on uneven ground caused twisting of knee.
The symptoms exhibited by patient are pain on the anterior side of left knee with a bump felt over the knee and swelling over the knee.

She is unable to fully flex or extend the knee and weight bearing is painful
She feels like knee is giving out when in weigt bearing.
Differential diagnosis: One of the possible diagnosis for the patient condition is patellar dislocation.
The injury results in pain, swelling and limitation of range of motion of knee. Weight bearing is painful and instability of knee joint.
The structure involved in the injury is the patella which is a sesamoid bone present in knee joint. Knee ligaments may also be injured.
The treatment plan for patellar dislocation.

The patella is aligned by closed reduction. If closed reduction is not helpful open reduction is performed. A surgical correction may be needed in some cases to allign the patella
A splint or knee cast is used to immobilize the knee and provide rest.
After the removal of splint or cast physical therapy with non weight bearing exercises is started.
This is followed by partial weight bearing exercises and then full weight bearing.
Strengthening exercises are given to improve knee musculature and ligament strength.