O-Legs and Knock-Knees: Surgery for Knee Pain and Arthrosis | NDR.de – Guide

Even if the majority of those affected have no problems, individual cases of a misalignment in the knee joint can have dramatic long-term consequences: cartilage wear, persistent pain, artificial knee joint, occupational Sanctions.

Symptoms: pain in the knee up to arthrosis

Bow feet are not uncommon, especially in males. However, they stress the knees on the one hand, and the joints cannot always withstand it throughout life. Problems arise above all when affected people put too much pressure on their knees at work or in sports – and when they smoke. Knee pain progresses very slowly without treatment. In the case of the bowstring, the body weight is mainly on the inside of the joint, on the outside in the case of the kneecap. Over time, the cartilage continues to degrade, and osteoarthritis develops about 20 times faster in the bowel without any deformity.

Conservative medicine: insoles, orthoses and exercises

Sports and conservative treatments are often recommended for knee problems with increased footwear, insoles, orthoses, and targeted muscle strengthening. But their chances are limited if the misalignment is too obvious. Before you decide to have any operation, however, these options must be exhausted. And it requires patience, as it can take a few weeks for the pain to go away with orthoses or insoles.

Surgery: erectile, partial prosthesis or artificial knee joint

If conservative measures do not yield lasting success, there are various surgical procedures that may be used. It is important to judge how badly the cartilage is already damaged: if the damage is still minor, the leg can be straightened. In case of moderate damage, a so-called partial prosthesis is used, only a prosthetic knee with completely destroyed cartilage, a complete prosthesis can help.

Conversion Osteotomy: straightening spares the knee joint

The knee joint can be completely protected by straightening the legs at the right time. But the operation required is a complicated procedure: In so-called conversion osteotomy, surgeons look at the bone in a minimally invasive procedure and then bend it until the leg is straight. The foot is fixed at this angle with a titanium plate so that bone tissue can grow into the gap. Ultimately, the new bone tissue should be as hard and flexible as the rest of the bone. During this time the cartilage also heals. Although hyaline articular cartilage itself does not regenerate, a type of scar tissue grows over the defect areas, which at least alleviates symptoms.

Leg straightening is actually a well-known procedure that was originally developed over a hundred years ago. However, experts criticize that this method has been largely forgotten due to the widespread and more lucrative use of prosthetic joints today. Artificial joints are not always a good solution, especially for younger patients, as their durability is limited and replacement is not possible indefinitely.

OP: Fast healing by bending the bones

However, today the leg straightening procedure does not have much in common with the earlier procedure, as the bones are no longer broken, but bent. This makes the operation easier and allows for faster healing. After four to six weeks, most patients are fit for everyday life again. One problem, however, is that leg straightening is not reimbursed by health insurance companies as well as other procedures that require more time-consuming preparation as well as complete leg measurement.

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