Osteotomy involves surgical procedures where a bone is cut and realigned or repositioned to improve the forces going through the area.

Planning software with full-length weight-bearing X-rays allows pre-operative calculation of the required amount of wedge correction in the tibia in mm.

Laminar spreaders open the wedge of a high tibial osteotomy, and then the bone is held in the new position with a plate and screws until new bone fills the gap.

Strong metal or carbon fibre plates and screws are used fix the bones in the new position, until new bone heals the defect, after which time the surgeon and patient may elect to remove the plate.
Common osteotomy procedures in the knee
Osteotomies are usually performed to improve knee pain or to decrease the forces going through a vulnerable area, but may also be done to improve the cosmetic appearance of a limb.
Common osteotomy procedures relating to the knee include:
- high tibial osteotomy
- distal femoral osteotomy
- tibial tubercle osteotomy
CLINICAL PUBLICATIONS
Tibial Tubercle Osteotomies: a Review of a Treatment for Recurrent Patellar Instability. Grimm NL, Lazarides AL, and Amendola A. Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med. 2018 Jun;11(2):266-271.
Deterioration of patellofemoral cartilage status after medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2018 Sep 8. doi: 10.1007/s00167-018-5128-7. [Epub ahead of print].