Value of closing-wedge high tibial osteotomy for treatment of medial gonarthrosis [Der stellenwert der valgisierenden, zuklappenden tikiakopfosteotomie bei der medialen gonarthrose]

In young and active patients, closing-wedge high tibial osteotomies are reliable procedures in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the medial compartment of the knee. This has been consistently shown throughout the last 2 decades. The present study analyzes the long-term results of 217 patients after an average of 9 years and compares them to the results in the literature. Besides correction of the alignment, other prognostic factors such as the patients' age, overweight, the preoperative degree of osteoarthritis, but also a newer prognostic factor described by the Lyon knee school have been evaluated. The authors found that the "tibial bone varus angle" might be helpful to differentiate between a bony deformity of the proximal tibia, amenable to correction by osteotomy, and a secondary bony erosion of the medial tibial plateau, with a worse prognosis.