Stress analysis of the tibial plateau according to the difference of blade path entry in opening wedge high tibial osteotomy

High tibial osteotomy (HTO) has been used to successfully treat patients with genu varus deformities that can improve mechanical function and condition in the knee joint. Clinical studies have reported that bow legs often occur with a concentrated load on the varus of the tibia. This study aimed to analyze and verify the clinical test data result by utilizing the three-dimensional (3D) static finite element method (FEM). The 3D model of lower extremities, which include the femur, tibia, meniscus, and knee articular cartilage, was created using the images from a computer tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging. In this report, we compared changes in stress distribution and force reaction on the tibial plateau because of critical problems caused by unexpected changes in the tibial posterior-slope angle because of HTO. The results showed that the 5° wedge-angle virtual opening wedge HTO without and with the posterior-slope angle shows has a load concentration of approximately 60% and 45% in the medial region, respectively.