2024 AANA/ISAKOS Specialty Day All-Access Pass-Meniscus Debate Speaker #2: Just Do the Osteotomy and Forget About the Root Repair

Meniscus Debate Speaker #2: Just Do the Osteotomy and Forget About the Root Repair

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The speaker argues that osteotomy is the preferred treatment for patients with varus alignment greater than 5 degrees and meniscus root tears. Root repair alone fails to correct meniscus extrusion, which predicts clinical failure and joint degeneration. Studies from Brazil, South Korea, and Japan show high healing rates with isolated high tibial osteotomy (HTO), even without root repair, improving outcomes by reducing extrusion. Thus, osteotomy addresses the underlying deformity driving failure, unlike repair or centralization techniques. The speaker urges adopting osteotomy as the international standard, citing robust global evidence and criticizing reliance on repair alone in these cases.

Asset Caption

Seth L. Sherman, M.D.

Keywords

osteotomy

varus alignment

meniscus root tears

high tibial osteotomy

meniscus extrusion