Clinical results of reversed V-shaped high tibial corticotomy with minimally invasive surgery without internal fixation devices.

High tibial osteotomy is a method of treating knee osteoarthritis due to genu varum in advanced stages. High tibial osteotomy-associated problems continue to be reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical results of a new, innovative method of high tibial osteotomy with 3- to 13-year follow-up. Between 1996 and 2006, our new surgical method was performed on 293 patients with medial compartment osteoarthritis and genu varum. All patients were examined preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and at final follow-up. The Hospital for Special Surgery Knee Scoring System (HSS) was used at final follow-up, and limb alignment and patient satisfaction were reassessed. Immediate postoperative complications included varus recurrence, knee instability, and peroneal nerve palsy, and no signs of tibial nonunion or infection were observed. At final follow-up, 3 cases of genu recurvatum, 2 cases of peroneal nerve palsy, and 25 cases of loss of correction were observed. Average postoperative HSS score was 85 (range, 47-97), and 97.8% of the patients were satisfied. This new method is a good alternative for the correction of genu varum because it requires a small incision, is soft tissue friendly, is a corticotomy instead of an osteotomy, requires no internal or external fixation devices, has a shorter duration and an acceptable complication and recurrence rate, and results in satisfactory HSS scores and higher patient satisfaction rates. Copyright 2010, SLACK Incorporated.