Realignment osteotomy of the knee—Part 1: Distal femoral varus osteotomy for osteoarthritis of the Valgus knee

Abstract

Realignment osteotomy of the knee is indicated for the young active patient with unicompartmental osteoarthritisand an associated deformity. Varus deformity in association with medial compartment osteoarthritis is most commonly corrected through the proximal tibia. Valgus deformity with lateral compartment osteoarthritis is most commonly corrected through the distal femur because of the often-associated superior-lateral slope of the joint line. However, if the deformity is minimal and there is no superolateral slope to the joint line, then the correction can be made through the proximal tibia. This article has 2 parts. Part 1 covers the valgus knee and a detailed description of our technique for distal femoral varus osteotomy. Part 2 covers the varus knee and our technique for proximal tibial valgus osteotomy, which is described in detail.