Clinical Results Associated with Changes in Posterior Tibial Slope Following Open-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy

Abstract

Background: The primary target of opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO) is to the coronal plane is to correct the coronal malalignment. However, other geometric knee parameters are affected as well, including the posterior tibial slope (PTS). Objectives: The main objective of this prospective study is to investigate whether there was a significant correlation between the PTS change and patients’ clinical outcomes following OWHTO. Patients and Methods: Twenty knees with symptomatic isolated medial compartment knee osteoarthritis and varus deformity undergoing OWHTO were evaluated. Clinical evaluation was performed according to the Knee Society Score (KSS). Radiographic evaluation was made according to the changes in the PTS. The correlation between changes in PTS and KSS was assessed by the Pearson test. Results: The mean follow-up period was 8.4 ± 1.6 months. The average KSS showed significant improvement from 96 ± 18 preoperatively to 172 ± 13 at last follow-up (P< .05). The PTS increased from 9.9 ± 2.6° preoperatively to 12 ± 2.8° at the last follow-up (P< .05). No correlation was found between changes in PTS and improvement in knee scores. Conclusion: This study showed a significant increase in PTS following OWHTO. However, this increase was not associated with worse clinical outcomes.

Keywords

• osteoarthritis; opening-wedge; high tibial osteotomy; posterior tibial slope