What is lengthening surgery?
Limb Lengthening surgery is a type of orthopedic surgery performed for to make an arm or leg bone longer. Aims of this surgery are to treats discrepancies (differences) in the length of an extremity or to increase total body height (cosmetic lengthening / stature lengthening).
Limb lengthening surgery can be done by surgeons on the following bones;
- The upper arm bone (humerus)
- Forearm bones (radius and ulna)
- The thigh bone (femur)
- The shin bone (tibia)
Procedure Details
This procedure involves surgically cutting the bone that needs to be lengthened and using an external or internal lengthening system to widen the space between the ends of the bone. As the device gently separates the two segments of bone, new bone material gradually forms in the created gap, solidifying over time.
Every day, a small amount of new bone is produced in the space between the lengthened bone ends. In fact, bone lengthening is a process that utilizes the body’s ability to renew itself. While the length of bone increases, also muscles, ligaments, blood vessels and nerves, as well as the surrounding supporting soft tissues stretch and adopt new length.
