title: Can patients really participate in sport after high tibial osteotomy?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The possibility to return to sporting activity can be an important consideration in the decision-making process in femorotibial osteoarthritis. We analyzed functional outcomes and sport participation in a continuous series of HTO and asked whether this procedure could match expectations in active and motivated patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively investigated activities, sports participation, and the level of satisfaction in 139 patients with unilateral noncomplicated HTO. The study included 41 women and 98 men with a mean age of 59 years and a mean 50 months of follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-seven patients (63%) reported that their knee was "normal," and eighty-six patients (62%) felt that their activities were limited by their knee. A total of 78 patients (56%) reported that they were as active as they expected to be before the intervention. Of these patients, 98% were satisfied. Of the patients who were not as active as they thought they would be, 51% were satisfied (P < 0.0001). The duration of preoperative pain, the age at evaluation, and the number of previous surgeries did not influence the subjective result. Among patients under 75 years, 28% regularly participated in strenuous sports, but 40% were motivated for these activities. 66% of the motivated patients regularly participated in at least one impact sport.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that young motivated patients are able to resume strenuous activities following HTO. However, patients must be informed that they will typically not recover their pre-pathology level and that residual pain during strenuous sports is not exceptional.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therapeutic study, Level IV.
authors.affiliation: Centre Orthopédique Santy, 24 Av Paul Santy, 69008, Lyon, France. bonnin.michel@gmail.com
authors.forename: Michel P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Bonnin
authors.forename: Jean-Raphael
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Laurent
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zadegan
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Badet
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Pooler Archbold
authors.forename: Elvire
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Servien
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery*; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020127:Recovery of Function; D011998:Recreation / Q000523:psychology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013977:Tibia / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome