Incidence of adductor tubercle tendinitis and its effect on clinical results in patients with genu varum undergoing high tibial osteotomy

A. Bedrettin, Y. Mucahid Osman

Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Sakarya Yenikent State Hospital, Sakarya, Turkey. drbedrettin@gmail.com

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• Orthopedics

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the incidence of adductor tubercle tendinitis (ATT) and demonstrate the effects of intraoperative steroid injections on clinical outcomes in patients undergoing high tibial osteotomy (HTO) due to genu varum (GV).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of 738 patients who underwent HTO due to GV between 2014-2021, 454 patients had accompanying preoperative ATT. Of these patients, 324 patients who presented to follow-ups and had adequate medical records were evaluated. Mean patient age was 52.6 years. Patients who received steroid injections to the adductor tubercle during HTO (Group I, n=182) and patients who did not receive injections (Group II, n=142) were compared. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed by evaluating preoperative and postoperative VAS scores and presence of ATT.

RESULTS: Preoperative ATT sensitivity was present in 61% of the patients. ATT findings were significantly less in Group I compared to Group II in the early-term (1-3 months) (p=0.0001), while there was no significant difference in the late-term (6-12 months) (p=0.880). There was no statistically significant difference between the preoperative and postoperative VAS scores of the groups (p=0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS: Stress and tendinitis often develop in the adductor muscle groups due to increased adductor moment in GV. We believe that tendinitis contributes to increased knee pain. HTO reduces the symptoms of tendinitis in the long term by decreasing the adductor moment, while intra-operative steroid injections contribute to relieving complaints related to tendinitis in the early term.

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