Maintaining Posterior Tibial Slope and Patellar Height During Medial Opening Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy

Background: Increased posterior tibial slope (PTS) and decreased patellar height (PH) after medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) have been repeatedly reported in the literature. However, this has been disputed in more recent biomechanical studies.

Hypothesis: No change in PTS or PH would result after MOWHTO with the freehand technique, regardless of the degree of the coronal plane correction.

Study Design: Case series.

Methods: A total of 62 patients who underwent MOWHTO between 2018 and 2020 were included. Surgery was performed using a dedicated step-by-step protocol to reduce the risk of unintentional slope changes. All patients were evaluated preoperatively and at a 2-year follow-up with the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score and the University of California, Los Angeles physical activity scale. Pre- and postoperative radiographic lower limb alignment parameters-including hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), mechanical lateral distal femoral angle, proximal posterior tibial angle (PPTA), joint line convergence angle, and joint line obliquity-were measured on full-length lower limb radiographs. PH measurements assessed on lateral and anteroposterior knee radiographs included the Caton-Deschamps, Insall-Salvati, and Schröter indices.

Results: A significant change was observed in the coronal plane alignment, with an increase in the MPTA from 84.38° to 90.39° ( < .001) and a consequent increase in the HKA from 172.19° to 180.15° ( < .001). No significant changes were observed in the PTS, as evidenced by a postoperative PPTA of 80.6° versus a preoperative value of 80.4° ( = .2). No significant changes were detected in the mean PH on all 3 indices used-pre- versus postoperative Caton-Deschamps, Insall-Salvati, and Schröter indices measured 0.95 versus 0.93 ( = .2), 1.03 versus 1.03 ( = .5), and 1.56 versus 1.54 ( = .3), respectively.

Conclusion: In this study, MOWHTO did not result in significant changes in the PTS or PH when accurate preoperative planning and precise intraoperative freehand technique were adopted..