Least Effective Exercises Slideshow

Medical Author:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Treatment

• Relocation: The doctor will move your lower leg back into position, a process called reduction. Most doctors will do reduction after a person has been given pain medication or is given "conscious sedation," where the patient is sedated enough to withstand the discomfort of relocation but not completely sedated. Relocation is an important early step in repairing damage to nerves, blood vessels, ligaments, and other tissues of the knee. Relocation is usually done by emergency and orthopedic doctors.
• Immobilization: To keep further injury from happening and to help with the beginning of healing, the entire knee joint will be kept in a splint or immobilizer. This will keep the knee from bending and help the tissues to start healing.
• Referral: A knee dislocation almost always has severe tears and sprains of the ligaments and sometimes has breaks in the bones of the knee. After swelling has gone down, the knee may need reconstruction surgery to regain function. A bone specialist (orthopedist) will need to see you after this injury.