Why is knee osteotomy used to treat knee arthritis?

Knee osteotomy is a form of surgery that is guaranteed to polarize both the general public, those who suffer from knee arthritis as well as the surgeons responsible for conducting the procedure in the first instance. The mere idea of performing a type of surgery that will potentially increase the risks of knee arthritis developing at a much speedier and dangerous rate than before is one that is a tough sell to many people, and so the simple fact that it is the medical community’s way of making do with a bad situation does little to dissuade the unease and reservations  that people have about the procedure.

Why is knee osteotomy used for knee arthritis?

One of the major problems with the other form of surgical intervention for the management and control of knee arthritis, knee replacements, is that they are artificial, mechanical prosthetic items that can be ultimately worn out, degraded and broken down. In addition, whilst a great deal of care is taken to ensure that they are sterile and free from infection, there is always the risk that bacteria will contaminate the prosthetic and so when it is inserted into the body, this will cause major problems.

Another problem with replacement surgery is that there is a high risk of a blood clot forming. This in turn will not only contaminate and limit the healing process (which is itself dangerous because this makes the patient even more vulnerable to acquiring an infection) but will also place the patient at risk of the entire leg suffering from necrosis which will require the limb to be amputated.

For these reasons, knee osteotomy is often used and recommended as a method of first resort in order to help delay and safeguard against the need for the total knee replacement surgery to take place.

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What are the risks of knee osteotomy surgery itself?

There are a number of risks involved and associated with this form of surgery as well, and specifically, the patient is at risk of still suffering from arthitic pain even after undergoing this procedure.

The main reason that the knee osteotomy surgery is used for knee arthritis is due to the regrettably, limited progress that has been made with the total knee replacement niche.