Comments on The Arthritic Knee: High Tibial Osteotomy

Casts are rare as complete immobilization of the k...

2012-02-09T22:12:42.415+11:00

Casts are rare as complete immobilization of the knee quickly leads to stiffness. Common post-operative protocols use a Range of Motion knee brace to protect the knee from sideways forces while still allowing protected movement.
Early protected weight bearing sounds like a closing wedge. Hopefully in 3 - 4 months time you will be walking around the house independently and starting to manage longer periods on your knee.

I am due to have a closed wedge HTO in 5 days. My ...

2012-01-28T09:16:18.123+11:00

I am due to have a closed wedge HTO in 5 days. My surgeon says I won't be in a cast & I will be putting weight on it as soon as I can. I have high confidence in his skills. I am a little worried about pain control. They are keeping me for 1 night for that reason. I was told 3-4 months total recovery, is this right? I know there is a huge difference between opened & closed but just wanted someone else's opinion.

omg. I am scheduled for an HTO on Nov 17th. All i ...

2011-11-08T09:36:54.620+11:00

omg. I am scheduled for an HTO on Nov 17th. All i was told is that i wouldn't be able to drive for 6 weeks. i see now that driving will be the least of my problems!!!! Now having serious second thoughts.....

It was a open wedge with about 8 deg of correction...

2011-08-21T01:29:53.369+10:00

It was a open wedge with about 8 deg of correction, its true that the quality of the surgeon is paramount my surgeon gave me some statistics of his work before we agreed on the procedure.
He had performed 110 HTO out of which one had problems with the bone damage, one infection and 10% not completely satisfied with the end result.
I think the outlook and exceptions of the individual will also affect the outcome of the HTO.

All the best Steve

Glad to hear it Steve, sounds like you had a good ...

2011-08-20T23:20:53.894+10:00

Glad to hear it Steve, sounds like you had a good run.

The type of internal fixation used can have a say in the speed of recovery. A Closing wedge osteotomy fixed with a decent sized plate will permit weight bearing relatively early when compared to other versions of the procedure. Sounds like this is what you had done.
Good luck with the left, hope all goes just as well.

Re-covering from HTO perform in the UK, after 7 we...

2011-08-20T23:03:44.016+10:00

Re-covering from HTO perform in the UK, after 7 weeks now walking without crutches and back to work (on light duties) full weight bearing due to a large T shaped plate controlling the osteotomy.
Pain was well controlled after the operation, will be having the Left knee done in December.
So far very happey whith the operation as the original knee pain has gone

Hi Kevin, In my experience, it is extremely rare f...

2011-07-23T20:42:41.228+10:00

Hi Kevin,
In my experience, it is extremely rare for patients to be given sufficient information about the recovery period following HTO. I tell people it will be a year before they are back to "normal" and ask them to consider the serious impact the surgery will have on their life. Work and family commitments are severely affected.
The average knee replacement patient will be walking with a cane at 6 weeks. For a HTO you will still be non weight-bearing on crutches at this stage.
The HTO is an effective operation in the right person but even the perfect patient will be disappointed if they go into the procedure unaware of the arduous recovery.
Same day surgery for a HTO is rather optimistic as the primary reason for delayed discharge in my experience is poor pain control.

I was told 2 months on crutches, 4 months of re-ha...

2011-07-16T01:34:08.815+10:00

I was told 2 months on crutches, 4 months of re-hab, longer to get back to "normal". They made it "same day surgery", sent me home with a pain ball which lasts 48 hours. When that emptied, I went into shock due to the extreme pain and nature of what had been done. Was taken to the hospital by ambulance for a sonar-gram and pain management. Told the next day by my surgeon, you need to get out of here asap as it is the best place to get mercer. 10 weeks of zero weight bearing, 7 months so far and still on crutches. Horrible experience and I wonder if I will ever get to where I was. Worse off now that before surgery. It been a really bad experience and God only knows where this will lead me

makes an acl reconstruction seem getting a deep ti...

2010-12-11T14:15:26.649+11:00

makes an acl reconstruction seem getting a deep tissue massage.....hurts like hell

me too, had one an it sure does hurt an suck. next...

2010-11-06T12:03:35.308+11:00

me too, had one an it sure does hurt an suck. next step knee replacement, if i don't treat it with care. it's not my wife that had it...

had one done hurts like hell

2010-09-25T01:55:38.648+10:00

had one done hurts like hell