Return to sports after unilateral medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy in highly active patients: Analysis of factors affecting functional recovery

2025

Return to Sports After High Tibial Osteotomy

Sample size: 63 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Nakayama Hiroshi, Kanto R, Onishi Shintaro, Iseki Takuya, Nakao Yoshitaka, Tachibana Toshiya, Amai Kenta, Yoshiya Shinichi, Iseki Tomoya

Primary Institution: Hyogo Medical University

Hypothesis

The study hypothesized that opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy would achieve a high rate of return to high-impact sports and that there would be prognostic factors affecting postoperative functional recovery.

Conclusion

Postoperative factors such as mTFA greater than 3° valgus, an opening gap greater than 10 mm, and KL grade 4 were identified as risk factors impairing the return to high-impact sports.

Supporting Evidence

63 patients were included in the study, all of whom had a preoperative Tegner activity score of five or more.
50 patients (79.4%) returned to high-impact sports at the presymptomatic level after surgery.
The mean time to return to sports was 8.0 months.
Statistical analysis identified significant risk factors affecting return to sports.
Clinical scores improved significantly from preoperative to postoperative evaluations.

Takeaway

This study looked at patients who had knee surgery to help them get back to sports, and found that some factors could make it harder for them to return to their favorite activities.

Methodology

The study included 63 patients who underwent unilateral high tibial osteotomy and evaluated their outcomes using KOOS and IKDC scores, along with radiological assessments.