Bilateral osteotomy

Written by Dr Sheila Strover on March 14, 2025

Bilateral osteotomy is when an osteotomy is performed on both limbs. Page updated December 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)

bilateral high tibial osteotomy

Bilateral high tibial osteotomy (courtesy Dr (Mr) Adrian Wilson)

Osteotomy for restoring axial alignment

An osteotomy allows the surgeon to correct axial alignment of the limb.

"Corrective osteotomies around the knee are innovative and efficient therapeutic procedures for restoring axial alignment chiefly for the management of unicompartmental knee OA."

Liang Gao et al

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Simultaneous bilateral osteotomy

When there is extreme bowing, or if the patient is in a hurry, the two legs may be operated on at the same time - which is called a simultaneous bilateral osteotomy. Usually, however, the patient is allowed to recover from the one surgery before the other side is one.

In this study - "Both [simultaneous open wedge high tibial osteotomy] and [bilateral open wedge high tibial osteotomy] achieved the desired therapeutic results, but [simultaneous procedures] resulted in rapid functional improvement with only 1 extra week of hospitalisation.

Hiroyasu Ogawa et al

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