Open Wegde Tibial Osteotomy: New Approach and Advantages of the Technique

Abstract

The tibial valgus osteotomy is a so-called conservative" surgical technique used in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis in the early stages of evolution, as opposed to non-conservative techniques such as knee prostheses. Internal knee osteoarthritis is promoted by an anomaly of the axis of the lower limb (genu varum). When there is an axis defect, the stresses are poorly distributed and the weight of the body is applied more on the internal side, accelerating the wear of the cartilage. When this is not too significant, we can propose to slow down its evolution by modifying the axis of the knee by an osteotomy. This is the tibial valgus osteotomy. This osteotomy can be performed in 2 different ways either by “opening” the internal part of the tibia (it is the tibial varus osteotomy by internal addition) or by “closing” its external part (external subtraction osteotomy). The choice of one or the other of these 2 operating techniques is up to each surgeon.