Correction of complex deformities, those with concomitant angular and torsional deviations, can be done by osteogenesis and by osteotomies. This study was performed to develop and apply a method of single-cut oblique plane osteotomy to correct complex diaphyseal deformities in long bones (femur or tibia) and to check its applicability. METHODS: This prospective study involved 10 patients of both genders, ages ranging from 17 to 62, who presented with complex deformities of long bones (four in the femur, six in the tibia) and were surgically treated by corrective osteotomy using the single-cut oblique plane technique. The patients were evaluated comparatively before and after surgery to measure the true angular deformities by a graphic method based on radiographic measurements of the deformed bone, and clinically for the torsional deformity and extension. Time till union and complications were also observed. Pre-operative planning determined the calculation of the bone-cutting angle. For each patient, an artificial model was made of the deformed bone, and the correction was simulated in such model. Drawings of the bone with annotations of the major surgical steps and the choice of the site and size of the synthesis material were made. The pre-operative planning guided the surgery. In the pre-operative stage, the patients had deformities with the following mean values: true angular deformity of 19º; torsion of 12º; shortening of 1.3 cm. RESULTS: After correction, the measurements showed the following mean values: true angular deformity of de 4º (p = 0.005); torsion of 1º (p = 0.005), and shortening of 0.6 cm (p = 0.027). Three patients had complications, two with delayed union, and one with late deep infection and delayed union. CONCLUSION: This study showed that it is possible to set up a reliable and reproducible method for the single-cut oblique plane osteotomy technique to correct complex diaphyseal deformities of long bones.
Osteotomy; Diaphyses; Prospective studies; Cohort studies
