The Hauser procedure is a surgical procedure that used to be performed for recurrent dislocation of the patella.
Page updated May 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)
Technique of Hauser Procedure
The Hauser procedure involved cutting off the tibial tubercle with attached patellar tendon and simply moving it medially and fixing it in the new position.
This surgical procedure is no longer done because it turned out that many patients had nasty complications. The procedure is one of several distal realignment procedures for realigning the patella in its underlying groove.
Complications of Hauser Procedure
One of the important complications relates to young people under 15 where the growth plate has not yet fused.
Disturbance of the growth plate during the procedure may lead to eventual deformity of the limb when they become adult, such as knee recurvatum (where the knee is bent slightly backwards).
Long-term ongoing pain can also complicate the procedure in a relatively high percentage of patients.
Hauser complicating knee replacement
It is imperative that the surgeon is informed about any previous Hauser procedure before undertaking knee replacement, as the normal medial incision involved in standard knee replacement risks cutting the patellar tendon.
Doing the procedure via a lateral approach avoids this nasty complication.
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Quote from peer-reviewed paper:
"...previous tibial tubercle osteotomy and advancement can have increased complication rates in the setting of [total knee arthroplasty]....The transfer of the patella tendon insertion to a new medial and posterior position places the tendon at risk for transection during a medial peripatellar TKA approach...."
Citation: Lum ZC, Giordani M, Meehan JP. Total knee arthroplasty after Hauser procedure: beware of the patellar tendon! Arthroplast Today. 2018 Oct 27;5(1):11-16. doi: 10.1016/j.artd.2018.07.004. PMID: 31020014; PMCID: PMC6470324.
Forum discussions
- Knee replacement after hauser
Patients discuss their chronological issues after hauser procedure.