Approaches to Varus and Valgus Deformity Correction Vary

OrthoSuperSite—April 14, 2011

Correction of deformity in knee replacement comes down to knowing how to approach the issue from several different angles, according to an orthopedic surgeon from Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Russell E. Windsor, MD, shared several technical tips and pearls in the field of deformity correction at the Current Concepts in Joint Replacement 2010 Winter Meeting in Orlando, Fla.

“Deformity correction is one of the more important goals of total knee replacement,” Windsor said. “You have to restore the anatomic alignment … the key to success is to have the balancing of the soft tissues correct. You do the bone work, but equal in the success of the replacement is the soft tissues.”

Windsor noted there are “basically three types” of deformity to deal with: varus, valgus and flexion.

This story originally appeared at orthosupersite.com.