The management of unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee by high
tibial osteotomy is enhanced by an associated joint debridement. A review
of 120 patients who underwent the combined procedure, with follow-up to
thirteen years, indicated that good or satisfactory results may be achieved
in 82 per cent and that such results may be maintained over a prolonged
period of review. This paper summarizes a long-term review of a series of
one of us (D. L. M.), who since 1961 has practiced the combined procedure
of tibial osteotomy and open joint debridement. The patient group was
reviewed by him one year following surgery and then independently by the
second author (R. P. W) in 1974, when 105 of the original 120 patients were
available for detailed follow-up. Controversy surrounds the role of
debridement when associated with osteotomy. This paper discusses both the
rationale for and the results of combining these procedures. The over-all
results confirm that these procedures are indeed complementary.