Early clinical effect of proximal fibular osteotomy on knee osteoarthritis

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the early clinical effect of proximal fibular osteotomy on varus Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods: We selected 92 patients with KOA, including 40 patients with proximal fibular osteotomy (observation group) and 52 patients with High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO) (control group), who were treated with osteotomy. The median time of follow-up was 25 months, and the clinical effects were compared between the two groups. Results: The operation time, bleeding amount during operation and drainage volume after operation significantly decreased while the full weight-bearing time significantly shortened in the observation group compared with the control group (p<0.05). The pain VAS and femur–tibial angle significantly decreased and the JOA score of the knee joint significantly increased in the observation group compared with the control group (p<0.05). A significantly lower incidence of complications, including neurovascular injury, deep infection, lower-limb deep vein thrombosis, fracture, delayed union and deformity recurrence, was found in the observation group compared with the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The short-term and long-term surgical effects of proximal fibular osteotomy on varus KOA are superior to those of HTO