When Can You Return to Sports After Patella Stabilization Surgery? | Dr. Thomas Bottiglieri

Añadido: 2026-06-06

[00:00:00]How long does it take to get back to sport after a patella stabilization procedure? This is your friend, Dr. Thomas Botta Leary, Doc Botts, with a sports medicine minute.

[00:00:10]The patella dislocation rehabilitation after surgery is similar to an ACL rehabilitation protocol. It may not take quite as long, 9 months, but somewhere in that range of 7 to 9 months can be expected. Occasionally, we can return athletes sooner, but there's often some muscle atrophy or some dynamic imbalance that can be still corrected at that 4 to 5 month mark. We used to say that, you know, the quadriceps atrophy 90% of the opposite side was acceptable. We really would like to see as close to 100% and you might include things like BFR, blood flow restriction therapy for improving muscle tone, and dynamic stabilization, uh sports-specific rehabilitation for fast twitch proprioception, these kinds of things before return to sport. Make sure you have a functional test. Don't just return by time.