Arthroscopic Debridement and Proximal Fibular Osteotomy in the management of knee Osteoarthritis: A Descriptive Longtudinal Study.

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis commonly occurs in the medial compartment. Arthroscopic debridement eases pain by irrigating debris and inflammatory cytokines. Proximal fibular osteotomy shifts the loading force more laterally from the medial compartment, eliminating pain and delaying degenerative progression. This study aims to evaluate pain relief by combining both procedures in knee osteoarthritis of the medial compartment.

Methods: The study was conducted in Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital from November 2021 to December 2022 after the ethical approval from institutional review committee (IRC Ref. No. 025-078/079). The outcome was assessed by visual analog score and knee society scores, who underwent a combined procedure of arthroscopic debridement and proximal fibular osteotomy during a study period of 12 months.

Results: Diagnostic arthroscopy was done in 32 patients, out of which, 27 patients underwent combined procedure with arthroscopic debridement and proximal fibular osteotomy. The mean visual analog score in combined procedure was 6.89±0.93 initially and 3.11±0.69 at 12 months follow up. The mean knee society score in combined procedure was 46.85±6.1 preoperatively and 84.26±8.27 postoperatively at 12 months follow up. Common peroneal nerve neuropraxia was observed in 8 (29.62%) patients, which resolved spontaneously during 6 months of time period.

Conclusions: Combined arthroscopic debridement and proximal fibular osteotomy procedure is effective in treating knee osteoarthritis of the medial compartment, as it decreases pain and improves knee society score.