Knee surgery changes course of common knee problem, according to local researchers

London-based study shows that a specialized knee surgery can prevent knee replacement. CTV’s Reta Ismail has more.

Researchers at Western have made significant progress treating a common knee issue, allowing some to avoid knee replacement.

People suffering with knee osteoarthritis, a condition which brings pain, stiffness and sometimes the need for joint replacement surgery, can undergo a surgical operation called high tibial osteotomy.

“So in the surgery, they’ll take that maligned limb, so that bowed limb, and actually straighten it to shift loads away from the most damaged compartment of the knee,” said Dr. Trevor Birmingham, professor and Canada research chair in musculoskeletal rehabilitation in Western’s faculty of health sciences.

The study is led by researchers at Western University and the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic. A two-year clinical trial followed 145 patients and compared those who had HTO and non-surgical therapy with those who only had therapy.

The results showed that HTO slowed joint damage, reduced pain and improved movement. This is the first real evidence that a treatment can change the course of osteoarthritis.

The surgery is less common than joint replacement, but the researchers believe it needs more attention to help people in their 50s with specific alignment issues.

In 2020, research from Western also showed that High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO) surgeries, knee realignments, should be performed more often.

- With files from CTV’s Reta Ismail