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Better functional results of opening wedge HTO for varus knees with medial osteoarthritis than opening wedge LFO for valgus knees with lateral osteoarthritis
Author(s) -
Arne Ekeland,
Tor Kjetil Nerhus,
Sigbjørn Dimmen,
Stig Heir
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bone and joint open
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2633-1462
DOI - 10.1302/2633-1462.17.bjo-2020-0081.r1
Subject(s) - osteoarthritis , valgus , wedge (geometry) , medicine , orthodontics , knee joint , surgery , mathematics , geometry , alternative medicine , pathology
Aims To compare time dependent functional improvement for patients with medial, respectively lateral knee osteoarthritis (OA) after treatment with opening wedge osteotomy relieving the pressure on the osteoarthritic part of the knee.Methods In all, 49 patients (52 knees) with a mean age of 47 years (31 to 64) underwent high tibial osteotomies (HTO), and 24 patients with a mean age of 48 years (31 to 62) low femoral osteotomies (LFO) with opening wedge technique due to medial, respectively lateral knee OA with malalignment. All osteotomies were stabilized with a Puddu plate and bone grafting performed in the same time period (2000 to 2008). The patients were evaluated by the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) pre-operatively and at six months, and at one, two, five, and ten years postoperatively. The knee OA was graded according to the Ahlbäck and Kellgren-Lawrence radiological scoring systems.Results The mean angular corrections were 8.0° (4° to 12°) for the HTO and 9.6° (4° to 20°) for the LFO. Both the pre-operative KOOS and the osteoarthritic gradings were similar for the two patient groups. The five subscores of KOOS increased significantly during the postoperative period (p < 0.001 to 0.029) levelling out after one year in both groups. The KOOS subscore symptoms was significantly higher for patients with HTO than those with LFO at all follow-up times, for sport and recreation in the period one to five years, and for pain and quality of life at two to five years (p < 0.001 to 0.009). Eight HTOs (15%) and five LFOs (21%) were converted to total knee arthroplasty after mean 6.7 years (2.0 to 9.8) and 5.4 years (4.0 to 8.0) respectively. The ten-year osteotomy survival rates were 88% for the HTO and 79% for the LFO (p = 0.745).Conclusion Patients with unicompartmental knee OA improved after a corrective opening wedge osteotomy, but four of the five subscores of KOOS were significantly higher for those with medial than those with lateral OA in most of the ten-year follow-up period. Cite this article: Bone Joint Open 2020;1-7:346–354.

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