Arthroscopic debridement and proximal tibial osteotomy in unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee with varus deformity

In this study a group of 15 knees from 13 patients treated by proximal tibial osteotomy only was compared with a second group of 23 knees from 20 patients treated by a combination of arthroscopic debridement and proximal tibial osteotomy. Diverse therapeutic modalities have been proposed to treat the minimal or moderate degrees of osteoarthritis of the knee joint. Conventional arthrotomy and debridement had been a popular procedure until the advent of high tibial osteotomy and arthroscopy despite their complications like stiffness and instability. Group 1 versus Group 2 results show: 1. A shorter average follow-up (30.0 months versus 35.5 months). 2. Preoperative and final correction angles of 8.9° varus, 6.5° valgus versus 8.7° varus, 7.5° valgus (p<0.05). 3. A significant difference between Insall's Knee Scores 58.0, 82.0 versus 56.5, 89.5 (p<0.05) for the preoperative and final follow-up periods. 4. The combination of arthroscopic debridement and proximal tibial osteotomy could be an appealing alternative to total knee arthroplasty in selected cases.