Unicompartmental osteoarthritis in the active patient: the role of high tibial osteotomy

Proximal tibial osteotomies are an important component of the surgical treatment options in the management of knee osteoarthritis. The value of osteotomy is in the knee with localized osteoarthritis and a corresponding malalignment that is either causative or contributory to the arthritis. The principle of correcting malalignment to transfer load to the relatively unaffected compartment of the knee, to relieve symptoms and slow disease progression, is a concept that has been used for many years, 1 Coventry M.B. Upper tibial osteotomy. Clin Orthop. 1984; : 46-52 PubMed Google Scholar with techniques becoming more refined with time. In addition, despite good long-term results with total knee arthroplasty, there remains a significant concern regarding the longevity of these prostheses, particularly in younger patients. In contrast, osteotomy provides an alternative that preserves the knee joint, which, when appropriately performed, should not compromise later arthroplasty should this be necessary.