Abstract

  Valgus deformity of the knee joint leading to lateral unicompartmental osteoarthritis is challenging for orthopedic surgeons. We aimed to clarify the characteristics of cartilage regeneration over the lateral compartment after arthroscopic subchondral drilling with concomitant distal femoral varus osteotomy (DFVO) and assess limb alignment correction postoperatively. Thirty knees were operated on, and the clinical outcomes and severity of lateral knee pain were evaluated. The major finding was that degenerative articular cartilage was partially or fully regenerated, and functional improvement and lower limb alignment correction were achieved after DFVO. The data suggested that DFVO achieves functional improvement and pain relief. With careful preoperative planning and intraoperative procedures, optimal angle correction can be achieved. In conclusion, DFVO with concomitant subchondral drilling provides reliable mechanical alignment as well as considerable cartilage regeneration over the lateral compartment.

Keywords: Distal Femoral Varus Osteotomy; Cartilage Regeneration; Mechanical Tibiofemoral Angle; Mechanical Lateral Distal Femoral Angle; Weight Bearing Line

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Citation

Citation: Yueh-cheng Tsai., et al. “Cartilage Regeneration in Knees with Lateral Unicompartmental Osteoarthritis Following Distal Femoral Varus Osteotomy".Acta Scientific Orthopaedics 4.2 (2021): 09-14.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Yueh-cheng Tsai., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.