Demographic analysis of knee dislocation: A rare mechanism of injury

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to present to the literature a rare injury mechanism that causes knee dislocation (KD) and describe its characteristics. Methods A retrospective review of patients with KD who were treated between January 2014 and December 2019 at our hospital was performed. Patients with KD due to rotavator machine injury were included in Group 1 and all patients with KD due to other etiological reasons were included in Group 2. Patients’ age, gender, side, injury mechanism, time to surgery, length of stay (LOS), operation time, follow-up time, neurological injury status, vascular injury status, open injury status, and surgical interventions were evaluated. Results A total of 34 patients were evaluated in the study. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of age, gender, side, or follow-up time ( p = .915, p = 1.000, p = .682, p = .374, respectively). However, LOS and time to surgery were statistically significantly longer in Group 1 ( p = .037, p = .010, respectively). Moreover, neurovascular damage was statistically significantly more common in Group 1. Conclusion As a rare injury mechanism for KD, rotavator machine injuries cause more neurovascular injuries in patients compared to other injury mechanisms and increase the time to surgery and LOS due to preoperative soft tissue damage.