Dear All,
I have been exploring methods of LL which can give an inch of lengthening with minimal down time. I have polled and met most of the surgeons and more or less know most things about their practices and LL techniques. some good and some not so good
but the common theme was long downtime and high cost when compared with other cosmetic procedures due to artificially inflated cost of the lengthening nails. Anyway the purpose of this post is to start a debate on technique called leg lengthening via Transiliac method, although sparingly, by some surgeons..
In this approach generally bone cut is made in the iliac crust and surgeon makes an instant lengthening of approx. 2-3 cm and than fill the gap with some sort of bone graft and fix the two ends with long screws to hold it together. Generally surgery takes few hours and recovery is suppose to be quite fast.
Advantages:
- Inexpensive as there is no need for nailing.
- Patient is comfortable as there is not much pain as there are neither bulky frames not internal nails.
- Instant lengthening.
- Possibly Full mobility with in few days of surgery with the help of crutches (needs to be checked with the surgeon)
- Fast recovery bone is healed approx. in 2-3 months.
Risks and Limitations:
- Only suitable for certain demographics as provides only minimalist gains
- Risk of sciatic nerve injury due to instant lengthening of 2-3 cm
- Not many surgeons who practice this approach, if any. The last one i heard was a a surgeon called Patrick Mcally from Ireland who did so and has now passed away.
All thoughts are welcomed along with more research and view of surgeons/medical experts who are willing to contribute.