MRI Showed Severe Tear To Medial Retinaculum And MCL. Feeling Dislocation Of Knee When Walking

Posted on Mon, 25 Mar 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 Answered on

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : MRI showed severe tear to medial retinaculum and MCL 5 weeks ago after twisting valgus impact. Knee is still slightly unstable and seems to have caused my tibia to twist inward. Feels like it shifts in as I walk. Could there have been a dislocation that corrected itself at time of injury? PT referred me back to ortho after seeing my slight tibial twist. What is your best guess that is going on?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (-1 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

A dislocated knee joint may not allow you to walk or even stand as weight bearing can be very painful.

I suspect there may be instability in the joint due to the tear in the MCL, that itself could be the reason for the twisting of the tibia.

Do visit the orthopediican, he shall examine and confirm the fact to plan a specific management.

Meanwhile do apply Crepe Band-Aid around the joint to immobilize the joint and avoid further damage.

Hope, I answered your query.

Please let me know if there are any other concerns.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (14 hours later)

thank you. in your experience will they manually try and adjust the tibia back into place? I'm just trying to be well educated for my discussion with the orthopedic. when the injury occoured I felt the entire knee slide medially and then back in to place. is it possible that it went back in incorrectly?

thank you again for your help

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (4 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for writing back.

Yes, they may try to manually reduce the instability in the joint and apply a cast to fix it in place.

Yes, it is possible for a dislocation to correct itself but a mild amount of instability may be left behind. Strict immobilization would treat such defect.

Hope, I answered your query.

Wish you good health.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (20 hours later)

one final question...the medial knee only has something sticking out when I straighten my leg. is this still consistent with a slight dislocation that never reduced correctly? also, is it possible that the xray never caught this dislocation because they couldnt straighten my leg to take the xray?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (4 hours later)

Hi,

Yes, the knee shift on the medial side could be the part of unsolved dislocation.

Yes, Xray with good and required positioning of the limb is essential to identify such minor dislocations.

Wish you good health.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar