Delayed- and non-union following opening wedge high tibial osteotomy: surgeons' results from 182 completed cases

Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2005 Jan;13(1):34-7. doi: 10.1007/s00167-003-0485-1. Epub 2004 Apr 22.

Abstract

Opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO) is a recently described procedure for medial compartment arthritis of the knee in the active, younger population. Despite having a number of advantages over the traditional closing wedge high tibial osteotomy (CWHTO) a potential complication of OWHTO is a high rate of delayed- and non-union. This study reports the occurrence of delayed- and non-union following OWHTO for medial compartment arthritis of the knee. Questionnaires were sent to all current members of the Australian Knee Society (n=45), a special interest group of the Australian Orthopaedic Group. Surgeons were asked primarily to indicate how many OWHTOs they had performed, and how many of these had progressed to union, delayed-union and non-union. All 45 questionnaires were returned, with 21 surgeons (47%) performing OWHTOs. A total of 188 OWHTO cases were reported, of which 182 were complete. Of these complete cases 167 (91.8%) were classed as united, 12 (6.6%) delay-united and 3 (1.6%) non-united. The results of this study demonstrate that the rate of delayed- and non-union following OWHTO for medial compartment arthritis of the knee is relatively low and comparable to that reported for traditional CWHTO.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Australia
  • Bone Plates
  • Humans
  • Ilium / transplantation
  • Joint Instability / physiopathology
  • Joint Instability / surgery
  • Knee Joint / physiopathology*
  • Osteoarthritis, Knee / surgery
  • Osteotomy / adverse effects*
  • Osteotomy / methods*
  • Osteotomy / statistics & numerical data
  • Postoperative Period
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Tibia / surgery
  • Weight-Bearing / physiology
  • Wound Healing / physiology*