Gait biomechanics in patients with medial knee osteoarthritis were significantly improved 5 years after concomitant high tibial osteotomy and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, according to a prospective cohort study conducted by Kendal Marriott and associates.
In the 33 patients who underwent the dual surgeries, three-dimensional gait analysis showed that the peak knee adduction moment had decreased significantly in the surgical limb 5 years after surgery, compared with a nonsignificant increase in the nonsurgical limb. A significant decrease in the peak knee flexion moment was seen in both the surgical and nonsurgical limbs. Progress plateaued 2-5 years post surgery, but improvements gained were maintained at the 5-year postsurgery mark.
As concomitant high tibial osteotomy and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is relatively rare, “longer term follow-up and comparisons with other treatment strategies are both warranted and required to better evaluate the clinical effect of this seemingly biomechanically efficacious procedure,” the investigators concluded.
Find the full study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine (doi: 10.1177/0363546515591995).
