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[James24]

I went to visit a doctor simply because i had a cold, And i thought i could ask him for a little more depth into this surgery and whether he thinks it's irrational or not.

And to my surprise, He said it's a waste of money and time

But one point he stated got me really concerned, Non-union of the bones

Obviously I knew that it'd be a risk but haven't thought of it much.
Now that I imagined experiencing it, I want to know if there's any proper solution to it?

[6FeetSoon]

I went to visit a doctor simply because i had a cold, And i thought i could ask him for a little more depth into this surgery and whether he thinks it's irrational or not.

And to my surprise, He said it's a waste of money and time

But one point he stated got me really concerned, Non-union of the bones

Obviously I knew that it'd be a risk but haven't thought of it much.
Now that I imagined experiencing it, I want to know if there's any proper solution to it?

Why would you be surprised that your general physician thought LL was a waste of money? It's a very extreme procedure and they may not understand your psychology and reasons for wanting it.

Non-union usually occurs if you lengthen too quickly or your body, for one reason or another, doesn't heal well and bone callous doesnt form at a normal rate.

[ll3ll]

Yeah I would agree, primary care physicians would have literally no understanding of the surgery, complexity, or risks... did the doc have any training in orthopedics? Might be a different story. I really do appreciate the question though! Does anyone have any idea? I guess I assume that bone grafting is the answer, but honestly don't know much about success rate

[MyronReducto]

Non-union is an extremely serious complication that a LL'er could face and could last for very long time. It could happen with incorrect or careless surgical technique or just bad luck during surgery. There are some studies that show the intake of NSAID painkillers could possibly affect the proper healing of the bones, hence why majority of LL surgeons avoid prescribing them to their patients. Smoking interferes with bone formation. Lack of weight bearing exercises, vitamin D and other nutrients associated could delay union of the bone. I think I read that non-union could also be the result of individual genetics and improper bone healing. Lengthening beyond the recommended length also poses a risk of non -union.
The doctors do bone grafting as a last resort, another massive and costly operation, to try and get a callous formation.

Non-union was the biggest fear during the first 4 weeks of my distraction phase, my doctor told me that if there is no callous formation on the xray roughly after 4 weeks, it could be a sign of non union. The worst case scenario would be amputation of the affected leg.   

One more thing, only a person with height neurosis will find this procedure a rational thing to do. If you wanna do LL, go for it, but do so when have fully understood the implications and the risks inherent with LL, with realistic expectations from what you want to achieve after gaining those several cm. 

[The Kaiser]

You have no hand on this, just go as recommended (1 mm max for femur per day and 0.65 mm for tibia, PT and doctor's instructions) Good luck

[IwannaBeTaller]

Non-union is an extremely serious complication that a LL'er could face and could last for very long time. It could happen with incorrect or careless surgical technique or just bad luck during surgery. There are some studies that show the intake of NSAID painkillers could possibly affect the proper healing of the bones, hence why majority of LL surgeons avoid prescribing them to their patients. Smoking interferes with bone formation. Lack of weight bearing exercises, vitamin D and other nutrients associated could delay union of the bone. I think I read that non-union could also be the result of individual genetics and improper bone healing. Lengthening beyond the recommended length also poses a risk of non -union.
The doctors do bone grafting as a last resort, another massive and costly operation, to try and get a callous formation.

Non-union was the biggest fear during the first 4 weeks of my distraction phase, my doctor told me that if there is no callous formation on the xray roughly after 4 weeks, it could be a sign of non union. The worst case scenario would be amputation of the affected leg.   

One more thing, only a person with height neurosis will find this procedure a rational thing to do. If you wanna do LL, go for it, but do so when have fully understood the implications and the risks inherent with LL, with realistic expectations from what you want to achieve after gaining those several cm.

Was there ever a recorded case of an amputation after a LL surgery? I haven't heard of one.

[MyronReducto]

Was there ever a recorded case of an amputation after a LL surgery? I haven't heard of one.

I haven't heard of any CLL cases of amputation but I know doctors do tell their patients that it could be a possibility if there are no other possible solutions to serious complications like severe osteomyelitis, nerve damage, non-union etc.....

[Bander72]

In a very extreme cases amputation could be necessary.

[onemorefoot]

With the new available technology I dont think amputations are a real possiblity, well if you smoke everyday I dont know.

[The Kaiser]

With the new available technology I dont think amputations are a real possiblity, well if you smoke everyday I dont know.

What do you mean by smoke everyday, and how is it related to that?

[onemorefoot]

If you smoke everyday, you may get a non- union, is a joke!!!

[notimportant]

Smoke is very bad for bone formation

[682]

On the subject of smoking, not only is tobacco use during limb lengthening potentially risky for union between the break (apparently following the fracture of any bone within the human body the average length of time for a non-smoker to form 1 cm of new bone is 69.6 days as compared with 89.4 days for smokers), I can imagine it would be an issue for the blood vessels which have already been stretched beyond their natural limit. As we all know, tobacco use is detrimental to blood flow.

[The Kaiser]

I am a smoker, but doctors recommend to stop it before surgery, only bad doctors will perform this surgery for smokers