Knee Osteotomy

Knee osteotomy is the surgery in which a cut in one of the bones in the lower leg. This can be used to relieve symptoms of arthritis. The surgery is referred as tibial osteotomy if the cut is made on the shin bone and femoral osteotomy if the cut is made on the thigh bone. The need of this is to shift the body weight from the damaged area to the other side of the knee, where the cartilage is still healthy. During surgery a wedge of the shinbone is removed from underneath the healthy side of the knee, so that the shinbone and thighbone can bend away from the damaged cartilage and do not harm it more. Osteotomy of the knee is generally done to treat the symptoms that occur due to knee arthritis which is unable to respond to other treatments. Arthritis commonly affects the inner part of the knee. The outside part of the knee remains unaffected. This condition occurs because the inner part of the knee holds more of the body weight than the outside of the knee when a person usually walks or stand. Some people do not refer to knee replacement surgery so by having an osteotomy, the doctor can delay a knee replacement for up to 10 years, and the person will still be active for those 10 years. For a successful surgery, the side of the knee where the weight is being shifted should have little or no arthritis.

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Last date updated on April, 2024