Symptoms

What symptoms do knee fractures cause?

Fractures around the knee cause pain, swelling and loss of function. It is usually impossible to bear weight on the affected side. Moving the knee is painful. If the fracture enters the joint the knee itself swells as blood from the broken bones distends the joint.

During the period of recovery from a knee fracture there is likely to be continuing pain, swelling, purple discoloration (bruising), and pain on moving the joint. Later on, you may find stiffness of the joint to be a problem.

In some injuries, there may be damage to the nerves and blood vessels that travel around the knee. Nerve damage may result in numbness and weakness in the lower leg. Damage to the large popliteal artery that travels behind the knee joint may result in loss of blood flow to the lower leg.