Table 1.

Advantages of Medial and Lateral Distal Femoral Osteotomies

Advantages of medial closing wedge

Direct bony contact leads to inherent stability and reliable bony healing compared to the need for bone grafting of an opening-wedge technique.

There is less hardware irritation because of the plate not being directly under the iliotibial band.

Advantages of lateral opening wedge

Opening-wedge osteotomy leads to an ability to correct and adjust the amount of distraction to optimize the mechanical axis.

It is a familiar approach to the lateral-distal femur.

There is access to the lateral compartment for concomitant procedures.