RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Outcome of Bone Substitute Wedges in Medial Opening High Tibial Osteotomy
N.M. Hooper*, R. Schouten , G.J. Hooper
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
First Page: 373
Last Page: 377
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-7-373
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001307010373
Article History:
Received Date: 3/4/2013Revision Received Date: 8/5/2013
Acceptance Date: 7/8/2013
Electronic publication date: 6 /9/2013
Collection year: 2013

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background:
Opening wedge high tibial osteotomy often requires bone grafting to improve the union rate and avoid instability at the osteotomy site. Autograft and allograft have both been associated with complications and the use of bone substitute wedges has been advocated to improve the outcome. This study investigated the clinical, radiological and histological outcomes of using biphasic calcium phosphate ceramic (Triosite) wedges in opening wedge high tibial osteotomy and determined whether the presence of the graft would compromise the satisfactory conversion to a total knee replacement.
Methods:
A consecutive cohort underwent radiological review to determine whether the osteotomy healed and the correction was maintained. Biopsies were performed on those undergoing second procedures. All patients converted to total knee arthroplasty were assessed separately as to any surgical complications attributed to the Triosite wedge.
Results:
There were 36 osteotomies in 33 patients with a minimum of 4 years follow up. All osteotomies healed. There was an average 90 (5-14) of correction, which was maintained. Histological assessment of 17 cases confirmed adequate bone replacement of the Triosite although some areas of tricalcium phosphate remained visible. Conversion to a total knee arthroplasty occurred in 11 cases with no complications.
Conclusion:
Biphasic calcium phosphate ceramic wedges (Triosite) can be reliably used in opening wedge high tibial osteotomy with a low incidence of complications and satisfactory conversion to total knee arthroplasty.