Thursday 22 March 2012

Joint Preservation Surgeries


High Tibial Osteotomy
While total joint replacement is sometimes the only satisfactory treatment available for advanced arthritis of the hip and knee, in early stages of arthritis, various joint preserving surgical options are also available for successful treatment.

X ray picture of
a patient who underwent a
high tibial osteotomy
KNEE ARTHRITIS
High tibial Osteotomy
When medicines no longer relieve pain, patient’s day to day life is affected and if the arthritis involves only one compartment, a surgery called as 'High Tibial Osteotomy' is successfully performed.
'Osteotomy' is a bone-cutting surgery (osteo=bone, tomy=cut) and advised to younger patients with early arthritis with an intention to preserve the natural joint as long as possible. In an ‘osteotomy’ surgery, the deformed bone is cut and realigned so that body weight is transferred through normal part of knee joint and damaged arthritic part is off-loaded. This leads to very good pain relief and function and the need for knee replacement at a younger age is postponed by 9-10 years.
AVASCULAR NECROSIS OF THE HIP
 

Pre surgical X ray picture of a patient of avascular necrosis
 

Intraoperative radiographs
of the same patient

Same patient two years later.
He does not need a joint replacement yet.

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