Osteotomy to improve joint function

Osteotomy is surgery that corrects bone deformities or osteoarthritis, being more common in the knee to relieve pain and delay prostheses. It requires brief hospitalization, use of maleta and prolonged physiotherapy. Although it entails risks, it significantly improves joint function.

Osteotomy is a surgical procedure in which the surgeon practices bone resections. It is indicated in patients with osteoarthritis, bone deformations (correct curvatures or angulations), as well as alterations in limb length.

It can be practiced in different areas, although the most frequent is the knee:

• Jaw: When they are misaligned in order to relocate or modify the size of the lower jaw to correct malocclusions, facial asymmetries or temporary articulation problems. It is used for both functional purposes (such as improving the bite) and aesthetics (improving facial appearance)
• Chin or mintoplasty: It is mainly carried out by plastic surgeons in order to correct the site and size of the chin to improve facial harmony.
• Desalineated back column or with deformations, today is very disused
• Hip: Sometimes acetabulum remodeling (cavity of a bone in which another fits) is required so that it is better align with the head of the femur. It consists of cutting a pelvis or femur bone and then realine and fix the fragments in an adequate position, usually to treat hip dysplasia.
• Knee: Generally in young patients it is used to relieve pain and improve joint alignment. It can be done well about the tibia or the femur to align the joint and avoid pressure in a timely zone of it.
• Toein juane surgery.

What is the preparation before the intervention?

Before the intervention, a preparation is required that is equal to that of any surgery: it includes an anesthetist assessment; Keep previous fasting and suspending certain medications. It is very important to inform the doctor in case of suffering some allergy (medicines, tape, etc.), as well as some disease and give the name of all the medications we take although we consider that they are routine drugs. Also in case of taking free sale supplements or medications without a recipe, although they seem to be harmless.

With the anesthetized patient, a cut is performed on the bone area that is remodeling and with a special saw bone sections are extracted. Then bone graft is placed and the edges are fixed with metal plates.

After surgery, if everything goes well, It should be 2-3 hospitalized days.

Once discharged from the hospital, the doctor will give us detailed instructions on the care and good hygiene of the wound that we must take at home. We will prescribe analgesics and anti -inflammatories to handle pain and swelling, and it is advisable to apply ice for inflammation.

Do you have risks?

As in any surgical procedure, osteotomy also entails certain risks, although they are rare. Among the most common complications are included infections, healing problems, damage to nearby structures and difficulties in fixing the bone in its new position. This means that in some cases I can specify a second surgery if the bone does not heal properly.

In Mapfre health insurance you have a large picture of specialist doctors who will advise you and tell everything you need about the operation.

Calculate your price

Knee osteotomy

It is the most frequent is osteotomies. During the procedure, in the knee and in a controlled manner, a cut in the bone of the tibia or the femur is made to correct the alignment of the knee. This will allow us redistribute the body weight of the worn out of the articulation towards a healthier area. In many cases, a fixing plaque is used to maintain the new position until the bone completely scan.

After surgery

The first weeks after surgery rest is recommended and should not load weight on the joint so you should use crutches for displacements and sometimes immobilizations splints are advised

Muletas are used approximately two months.

Postoperative exercises, after knee osteotomy, will depend on the type of osteotomy and if it has been performed in the tibia or in the femur and if it has been subtraction (removing bone) or addition (introducing a bone wedge), these exercises must be directed and supervised by a specialized physiotherapist.

Rehabilitation

It is very important a good physiotherapy that, as we previously commented, will vary depending on the type of osteotomy and the complexity of the case, the objective will be to achieve strength, stability and mobility.

Complete rehabilitation can be lengthened up to six months.

In general, hip and/or knee osteotomy can be a good alternative in young patients or in cases of early osteoarthritis or in case of deformations to avoid or delay replacement arthroplasty (prosthesis), which would be more complex surgery.

What you should know …

• Osteotomy is surgery to correct bone deformities, osteoarthritis or extremities length differences, commonly performed in the knee, jaw, chin, hip and column.
• Knee osteotomy is the most frequent; It seeks to realine the joint to relieve pain and delay the use of prostheses, especially in young patients with early osteoarthritis.
• The postoperative period includes brief hospitalization, use of crutches, physiotherapy and a rehabilitation that can last up to six months; There are risks such as infections or bad healing.

Literature

• High Tibial Osteotomy in Knee Reconstruction and Joint Preservation. Pullen WM, Slone H, Abrams G, Sherman Sl.J AM Acade Orthop Surg. 2024 Jul 1; 32 (13): 577-586. DOI: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-23-00323. EPUB 2024 Jan 3. PMID: 38175969 review.
• High Tibial Osteotomy versus Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty in Advanced Medial Share Knee Arthrosis: In comparative Study with Prpensity Score Matched Analysis. Teo SJ, Purnomo G, Koh DTS, Soong J, Yeo W, Razak Hrba, Lee Kh.knee. 2024 Aug; 49: 116-124. Doi: 10.1016/J.Knee. 2024.06.003. EPUB 2024 JUN 21.PMID: 38909589
• Total Hip Arthroplasty After Pelvic Osteotomy: A Meta-Analysis. Huan SW, Wu WR, Peng SJ, Zhuang TF, Liu N.acta Orthop Belg. 2024 SEP; 90 (3): 523-533. DOI: 10.52628/90.3.10758. PMID: 39851025
• Spinal Osteotomy. Menger RP, Davis DD, Bryant JH.2023 Jun 12. In: Statpearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): Statpearls Publishing; 2025 Jan–. PMID: 29763047 Free Books & Documents.
• Optimizing Osteotomy Geometries in posterolateral mandibulectomies.
• Kim Haj, from Biasio MJ, Forte V, Gilbert RW, Irish JC, Goldstein DP, of Almeida JR, Hanasono Mm, Yu P, Chepeha dB, Looi T, Yao CMKL. JAMA OTOLARYNGOL HEAD NECK SURG. 2024 Dec 1; 150 (12): 1113-1120. DOI: 10.1001/JAMAOTO. 2024.3246.PMID: 39480439.