Closing-wedge high tibial osteotomy, a reliable procedure for osteoarthritic varus knee

Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze the long-term clinical and radiological outcomes of patients who underwent closing-wedge High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO) for the treatment of medial compartment osteoarthritis and to evaluate the conversion rate to knee arthroplasty. Methods A retrospective, non-randomized, monocentric study was performed in our Institution considering 166 patients between 1989 and 2012. The final population was composed by 82 patients (94 knees), median age at time of operation was 53 (range 45-73) years. All patients were evaluated clinically (HSS Score, Tegner Scale, VAS and Crosby-Insall Grading) and radiographically (osteoarthritis staging, hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle, tibial slope and metaphyseal varus). Results Mean follow-up was 11.9 +/- 7.2 years. HSS Score increased significantly from 70.8 +/- 10 to 93.2 +/- 9.1 (p < 0.05) instead Tegner Scale increased from 1.3 +/- 0 (range 1-4) to 2.8 +/- 0.7 (range 2-6) at the last control (n.s.); VAS score significantly decreased from 7.9 +/- 1.4 to 1.6 +/- 1.1 (p < 0.05) at last follow-up. According to the Crosby-Insall Grading System, 80 patients (97.4%) reported excellent-good results. HKA angle decreased from 6.9 degrees +/- 3.5 to 2.6 degrees +/- 2.6 (p < 0.01), tibial slope decreased from 10.1 degrees +/- 1.4 to 6.8 degrees +/- 2.1 (p < 0.05) and finally the metaphyseal varus decreased from 4.2 degrees +/- 0 to 2.1 degrees +/- 1.2 (n.s.) at the last follow-up. Adverse events were reported in 4.8%. Osteotomy survivorship rate resulted 92% at 10 years, 82% at 15 years and 80% at 20 years. Sixteen revisions (9.6%) were reported at a mean period of 12.8 years. Conclusions CW-HTO is a valid option for medial osteoarthritis treatment, with successful results in both clinical and radiological outcomes.