Corrective osteotomies around knee are innovative and effective therapeutic methods for eliminating frontal and/or sagittal malalignment with or without instability and managing knee osteoarthritis. Successful outcome depends on accurate patient assessment and rigorous planning, including history, physical examination, and complete radiological evaluation. This review provides up-dated clinical information about the osteotomies around the knee, including appropriate patient selection, current indications and contraindications. Some specific conditions of knee joint, which were previously in definite contraindications, are now included in relative contraindications group according to development of new methods and the changing needs of the population. After conservative procedures such as cartilage transplantation for joint cartilage, if any deformity exists, correction of malalignment, increases the success of cartilage-preserving methods and is becoming increasingly common in routine practice. This not only extends the range of application of osteotomies around the knee, but also requires a more detailed assessment of appropriate patient and ideal surgical method selection. In conclusion, performing osteotomy within ideal indications and considering the contraindications help to achieve satisfactory outcome.