Osteotomy

An osteotomy is an operation in which a surgeon makes a planned cut in a bone and changes its alignment. The new position can redistribute force across a joint, correct an angular deformity, or improve how a hip or knee fits and moves. The bone is held in place while it heals, often with a plate and screws. The exact cut, correction, and weight-bearing plan depend on the body area and the condition being treated.

Recovery involves wound care, pain control, swelling management, and a gradual return to loading. You may initially need crutches, a frame, or restricted weight-bearing, followed by exercises to restore movement and strength. Follow-up visits and imaging check alignment and healing. Driving, work, sport, and heavier lifting resume only when your surgeon confirms that your bone and function are ready.

No operation is free of risk, but an individual frequency cannot be predicted from the procedure name alone. Possible problems include infection, bleeding, blood clots, nerve or blood-vessel irritation, stiffness, delayed bone healing, loss of correction, or hardware symptoms. Your surgeon should explain which risks are more relevant to your bone, health, smoking status, medicines, and planned correction.

Osteotomy is intended to improve alignment or joint loading, not to promise that every symptom will disappear. Benefit depends on the diagnosis, joint condition, correction, bone healing, and rehabilitation. The realignment can provide lasting mechanical improvement, but arthritis or the original disease may continue to affect the joint. Your surgeon can define the specific goal and signs of success.

Osteotomy is different from replacing a joint: your own bone and joint surfaces remain in place. It may be used for selected alignment problems or conditions affecting the hip or knee. Planning commonly uses examination and imaging to decide where the cut should be made and how the correction will be held.

A surgeon may discuss osteotomy when an alignment problem or local joint disease is creating uneven loading and a realignment could meet the treatment goal. Examples include selected bow legs, knock knees, hip dysplasia, Perthes disease, avascular necrosis of the hip, or knee osteoarthritis. Suitability depends on age, bone quality, joint surfaces, symptoms, activity goals, and imaging rather than on a label alone.

The team confirms the operative side and planned correction before anaesthesia. The surgeon exposes the bone, makes the planned cut, and adjusts the alignment. The new position is checked and secured, often using a [Plate and Screws](/materials/plate-and-screws/). The wound is closed, and a recovery team begins pain control, circulation checks, and safe movement instructions.

Early recovery focuses on the incision, swelling, pain, and safe transfers. The next phase gradually restores joint movement and strength while weight-bearing follows the surgeon’s instructions. Later rehabilitation targets balance, endurance, work tasks, or sport-specific control. Healing speed varies, so follow-up assessment rather than the calendar alone determines progression.

Contact the surgical team about increasing redness, drainage, fever, worsening pain, or a wound that opens. Urgent help is needed for sudden chest pain, breathlessness, a cold or pale foot, or rapidly increasing calf swelling. Numbness or weakness should be reported promptly. Keeping appointments helps identify alignment, healing, and hardware concerns early.

Depending on the diagnosis, alternatives may include activity modification, physiotherapy, medication, injections, observation, or joint replacement. The choice depends on how much pain and functional limitation you have, the state of the joint, and whether preserving the native joint is a realistic goal. Ask what would change if you chose to delay surgery.

Seek an orthopaedic surgeon who regularly performs the relevant hip, knee, or paediatric realignment procedure. Ask what correction is planned, how weight-bearing will be restricted, what fixation is proposed, and how healing will be monitored. Request a clear rehabilitation plan and an explanation of alternatives, likely limitations, and warning signs after discharge.