Varus Deformity - Terminology

Terminology

The terminology is made confusing by the etymology of these words.

• In Latin, varus actually means "bow legged" and valgus, "knock-kneed".
• Application of these words in adjectival form to other portions of the body by the medical community has resulted in their definitions changing so that they now refer to the angle of the distal segment (i.e. valgus impaction in a Garden I femoral neck fracture).
• It is correct for a knock-kneed deformity to be called both a varus deformity at the hip (coxa vara) and a valgus deformity at the knee (genu valgum); although the common terminology is to simply refer to it as a valgus knee.

If this is confusing, just remember that "varus = inward" and "valgus = outward" and always refers to the direction that the distal part of the joint points. The English-speaking orthopedist's mnemonic is: valgus with a g as in gum means knees that stick together, and varus means a variance or divergence. Another mnemonic is that varus (which sounds like "v-AIR-us") means "more AIR between your legs".

When the terminology refers to a bone rather than a joint, the distal segment of the bone is being described. Thus, a varus deformity of the tibia (i.e. a mid-shaft tibial fracture with varus deformity) refers to the distal segment in a varus alignment compared to the proximal segment.