What Is An Osteotomy And When Is It Used To Treat Pain From Rheumatoid Arthritis?

— -- Question: What is an osteotomy and when is it used to treat pain resulting from rheumatoid arthritis?

Answer: Osteotomy is a procedure by which the alignment of a joint is changed.

By changing the alignment of a joint, one side of the joint sees less force, or body weight, and the other side of the joint sees more force, or body weight.

This assumes that one side of the joint is abnormal, and the other side of the joint is normal.

This procedure is most commonly performed in the knee joint and in some patients who have early knee arthritis, it may be quite beneficial. However, in the case rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the whole joint, even if a patient with rheumatoid arthritis feels the pain in just the inside or the outside of the joint line, it means however, that the entire joint is affected.

Therefore, realignment of the joint is not prudent in my opinion and will likely cause the patient to have pain again in an early date after a large surgical procedure. Rather than osteotomy, patients should consider other forms of surgery such as knee replacement.

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