Effect of Tibial Cut Planes and Hinge Axes on Medial Opening Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy

In medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO), researchers have reported critical problems caused by unexpected changes in the tibial posterior-slope angle. This unexpected change can be analyzed, but there is no general solution for cases with an oblique hinge axis and cut plane. We propose a general analysis model for OWHTO. We first evaluate the effects according to variation in the hinge axis and tibial cut plane and then define an ideal correction axis. This ideal axis, called the virtual tibial correction axis, is not on the tibial cut plane in general. In this paper, we also present an evaluation of feasibility of the proposed analysis model.