Aim : In our clinic are carried out annually, 20 high tibial osteotomy with Maquet’s technique, from 1980 up to 2002. This surgical procedure is indicated in degenerative, medial unicompartamed knee osteoarthritis with range of motion complete from at least 10° to 90° or more, in patients with age till 60 years old, active and ingreased body weight. The philosophy of this surgical procedure is the correction of mecanical axis of the lower limb. The lower limb’s axonometry preoperatively gives us precious information with regal of the mecanical axis from the normal and postoperatively clues on the success of the procedure

Material – method : From January 1998 up to December 2002 we have done 55 high tibial osteotomies – Maquet’s technique. In this work we studied 40 cases, aged from 42 to 61 years (m.a. 54), 32 women and 8 men. The patients were submitted in axonometry lower limb pro and post operatively. In two cases post operatively we were forced to correct the mecanical axis again. The final results ware very good and stable

Results : In our cases we did axonometries of the operated lower limb;s preoperatively and two weeks and six months after the operation. we noticed that the correction of the axis two weeks after operation.

Conclusion : The lower limb’s axonometry is very useful and we consider it necessary for the high tibial osteotomy according Maquet. It is easy to be done, cheep and painless for the patients The information we get is critical preoperatively for the procedure and postoperatively fop the prognosis of the results.

Purpose: The barrel – vault tibial osteotomy by Maquet proves to be a solution when dealing with osteoarthritic knees in varus deformity in young adults.

Material – method : 60 knees from 60 patients operated from January 2000 until October 2002. 50 of them where females 52 –72 (m.a. 59 y.o.),(35 right knees and 15 left knees) and 10 males 48 –72 y.o. (m.a. 56 y.o.),(7 right knees – 3 left knees).

The type of operation in which they were subjected was barrel – vault tibial osteotomy (Maquet’s technique) and stabilization of the tibial with a particular external fixation system (STAR) for tibial osteotomy. The stability of the fixation with this system was proved to be absolutely satisfactory and permits immediate mobilization of the patient’s knee and of the patient himself. The entire system is removed 8 weeks post- operatively.

Results : All patients have been improved both from the point of mobility and subjective complains.

Conclusions : The use of the STAR external fixation system for the tibial osteotomy creates tibial stability which allows the immediate post – operative mobilization both of the suffering knee and of the patient as well.