Lengthening of the lower limbs and correction of lumbar hyperlordosis in achondroplasia.

Abstract

The analysis of more than 500 elongations carried out over a period of 15 years has led to the development of a technique of elongation of limbs in which surgical trauma and operative risk have been reduced to a minimum since all of the surgical stages are performed percutaneously. This technique results in overall elongations of more than 30 cm in the lower limbs, which makes it highly effective in the correction of short stature (achondroplasia, osteochondrodysplasia, hypopituitarism, Turner's syndrome) and severe limb length discrepancy. The techniques are used for elongating tibiae and femora as well as the modifications required to decrease lumbar hyperlordosis after lengthening of the femur. A review of the results and complications of the latest series treated with this technique consists of 208 tibiae and 156 femura.