Osteoarthritis of the knee is a common degenerative disorder affecting the local population. The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis is 13% in female and 7% in male based on a local study. In end stage osteoarthritis, surgical intervention is warranted when conservative measures failed.
High tibial osteotomy is a well-recognized surgical treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee. Osteoarthritis of the knee commonly affects the medial compartment, resulted in varus alignment of the lower extremity. In patients with isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis, osteotomy over the proximal tibia and realignment of the lower extremity to valgus alignment allows unloading of the diseased medial compartment. The mechanical axis shifted from medial to lateral, allowing the spared lateral compartment to bear the load, thus alleviate the knee pain.
Traditionally, high tibial osteotomy is regarded as a buy time procedure to postpone knee replacement in younger patients with isolated medial compartment osteoarthritis. However, in properly selected patients, with meticulous surgical technique, recent studies revealed a favorable long term survivorship of this procedure. High tibial osteotomy may not be simply buying time, but a procedure able to achieve durable result.
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