Change of the external intra joint space of posterior knee after fibular ostectomy

Abstract

Background: the radiographic study of the knee is very important in the painful genu varum diagnosis and treatment: structural changes appearing in the knee joint surfaces may be observed.  
Objective: to show the changes taking place after fibular ostectomy in the patients surgically treated of genu varum from the radiological point of view. Material and methods: a lineal, prospective, descriptive study was carried out in the Military Hospital “Dr. Mario Muñoz Monroy” of Matanzas from April 2016 to April 2017, in 51 patients operated on applying Dr Zhang Ying-Ze’s fibular ostectomy technique: a total of 57 knees.  X-rays were taken before the surgery and six months after it, measuring the height of the external intra joint space. Results: the average age was 67.2 years (50 years the youngest and 84 the eldest patients); 23 were men and 28 women. Before the surgical treatment the average space was 8.84 mm±1.01 mm (18 mm the biggest and 2 mm the smallest); six months after surgery, it was  6.08 mm±0.9 mm (10 mm the biggest and 2 mm the smallest); six patients did not showed changes of the space. Conclusions: with the proximal fibular ostectomy we achieved the reduction of the external fibular space, modifying the anatomical and mechanical axis of the lower limb, what leads to a reduction of the internal joint compression