High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO)
In young patients where knee replacement may not be ideal and in patients who are physically very active and require to kneel for their work a high tibial osteotomy may be indicated.
Depending on the deformity of the leg being either knock kneed or bowlegged the bony cut (osteotomy) is done at the distal femur bone or the proximal tibia bone.
The principle of the operation is to realign the weight bearing axes of the leg in such a way that it is re-routed from running through the damaged part of the knee to the better quality of articular cartilage on the other relatively normal side of the knee joint.
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The pre-operative X-Ray shows the weight-bearing line (white line) passing through the medial side of the knee in the arthritic compartment.
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Following the high tibial osteotomy the weight bearing line passes through the lateral compartment of the knee joint which has good quality articular cartilage.
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A high tibial osteotomy can give a long lasting result but most patients are likely to require a total knee replacement eventually.
Information on high tibial osteotomy
