The Efficacy of High Tibial Osteotomy with or without Post-root Medial Meniscus Repair: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: High tibial osteotomy (HTO) is a knee joint treatment modality for medial compartment arthritis, aiming to improve articular cartilage healing by shifting the lower limb’s axis. It is commonly used in younger patients with pain and active lifestyles, preventing advanced cartilage deterioration. Varus malalignment may often be accompanied with medial meniscus root tears. In recent years, meniscus root tears are often been repaired. However, the efficacy of medial meniscus repairs with high tibial in varus malalignment with medial meniscal tears remains a controversy. Purpose: The purpose is to study the functional outcomes of concurrent medial meniscus root repair with HTO versus HTO alone. Study design: Systematic review. Methods: According to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines, we searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases for studies reporting the outcomes of medial meniscus posterior root tear (MMPRT) repair with HTO versus HTO alone and extracted data about characteristics of patients, clinical functional scores, and radiologic outcomes. One reviewer extracted data and 1 reviewer assessed the risk of bias and performed a synthesis of the evidence. Articles were eligible if they reported the functional outcome of HTO alone or HTO and MMPRT repair in patients of varus malalignment and medial meniscus root tears. Results: 6 studies with 264 patients were identified. Data from these studies were segregated in HTO only and HTO with medial meniscus repair group. The findings of this systematic review suggest that the outcomes of HTO with MMPHRR and of only HTO are not statistically significant, meaning that doing valgus osteotomy only in patients with varus knee and MMPHRT can give good results regardless of not repairing the meniscus. Conclusion: HTO with medial meniscus posterior horn root repair seems to have no significant improvement in the functional outcomes of the patient. However, long-term studies need to be performed. Keywords: High tibial osteotomy, medial meniscus, root repair, arthroscopy, varus malalignment, meniscus, root tear