Objective To compare the short-term effectiveness of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) and high tibial osteotomy (HTO) in the treatment of medial compartment osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee so as to provide a reference for clinical selection of appropriate treatment. Methods Between January 2010 and June 2011, 28 cases of medial compartment OA of the knee underwent UKA in 16 cases (UKA group) and HTO in 12 cases (HTO group). Biomet Oxford phase Ⅲ unicompartmental knee prosthesis was used in UKA group, and closing wedge osteotomy in HTO group. There was no significant difference in gender, age, course of disease, side, body mass index, articular cartilage degeneration classification, preoperative knee range of motion (ROM), Lysholm knee score, Tegner activity score, and femorotibial angle (FTA) between the 2 groups (P>0.05). The patients of UKA group began weight-bearing walking with walking aids within 48 hours after operation, and the patients of HTO group began weight-bearing walking with walking aids at 6 weeks after operation, and gradually began full weight-bearing walking at 8-12 weeks. Results There was no significant difference in operation time and intraoperative blood loss between 2 groups (t=0.406, P=0.688; t=-1.552, P=0.133). All incision healed primarily in both groups. No complications occurred in 2 groups. All patients were followed up 3.5 years on average (range, 3.0-4.5 years) in UKA group and 3.6 years on average (range, 3-4 years) in HTO group. There were significant differences in Lysholm knee score, Tegner activity score, and FTA in the 2 groups between before and after operation (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in knee ROM (P>0.05). At last follow-up, there was no significant difference in all above indexes between 2 groups (P>0.05). The postoperative X-ray showed that all force lines of the lower limbs were corrected, and the prosthesis and internal fixation were fixed reliably. During follow-up, Kellgren-Lawrence Ⅱ degeneration of the lateral compartment was observed in 1 case of 2 groups respectively; Kellgren-Lawrence Ⅱ degeneration of the patellofemoral joint was observed in 1 case of the HTO group, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups (χ²=0.778, P=0.378). Conclusion Both UKA and HTO have good short-term effectiveness for treating unicompartmental OA; however, the long-term effectiveness need further study and follow-up.

Citation： YANGBo, JIANGXin. COMPARISON OF SHORT-TERM EFFECTIVENESS BETWEEN UNICOMPARTMENTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY AND HIGH TIBIAL OSTEOTOMY FOR MEDIAL COMPARTMENT OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE. Chinese Journal of Reparative and Reconstructive Surgery, 2015, 29(5): 548-552. doi: 10.7507/1002-1892.20150119 Copy