Lateral release surgery

by Dave Maxey
(Defiance OH USA)

My 15 year old son (16 in March) has a severe problem patella dislocation. It's both knees with the left one worse than the right. He plays basketball and has suffered 6 dislocations since the start of November. He's at a point where he can no longer compete with this condition. My understanding is that the lateral release surgery is only effective after a person's growth plates are closed (my son has plenty of growing to be done) - is that true? We see a surgeon tomorrow.