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[Muse]

Here's the response from Dr Muharrem Inan, based in İstanbul, Turkey.  Contact them for specific information and latest updates.

Note: please refer to our disclaimer about The Doctors Directory http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=55.0
 
1) How many patients have you operated for cosmetic Limb Lengthening so far and How many patients do you operate yearly?

- I have operated on 450 lengthening cases since 1993. 46 of these were cosmetic cases (stature lengthening).

2) What methods do you use for lengthening?

- Classical Ilizarov Technique, LON (Lengthening Over Nails), Lengthening and then Plating, Internal Methods

3) What is the estimated total cost, including post-op treatments, stay, medications, physiotherapy? Are unscheduled surgeries covered and How much does a consultation cost?

- The price package includes 5 days of hospital stay and physiotherapy during this time. The patient then has to pay for accomodation (hotel, residence) and physiotherapy. The patient is advised to do physiotherapy 5 times a week, the physio cost is 1000 Turkish Liras weekly (200 TL per session).

Classical Ilizarov Technique: 30,000 TL
LON: 44,000 TL
Lengthening and then Plating: 44,000 TL
Internal Methods: 150,000 TL 

Note: The original prices are in Turkish Lira as stated. Others can convert it to Dollar or Euros depending on the current rate of conversion.  Updated price for internal methods on 8th May.

4) Is there a lengthening limit?

- The ideal lengthening amount is 1/5th of the original length of the bone. The maximum tolerable amounts of lengthening we advise is 8 cm for femurs and 6 cm for tibiae.

5) What is your opinion regarding weightbearing?

- Precice and Fitbone are similar. The patient stays in a wheelchair until the lengthening is complete. We then slowly allow weightbearing with a walker, then with crutches, supported by plastic leg braces. In other systems (External, LON, LATP), we allow weightbearing in as little time as possible.

6) When can a patient return to normal life (walking without support)?

For every centimeter of lengthening, approximately 1-1,5 months. For instance, for 5 cm of lengthening, the patient can return to normal life in 5-7,5 months.



Background (From Website)

Medical School: Osmangazi Medical School-ESKISEHIR- 1986-1992

Residency: Erciyes University 1992-1997

Attending: Erciyes Universitesi 1997-1998

Observer: Lecco General Hospital –Milano/ITALY

Attendant: Baltimore Limb Lengthening Center MD,USA

Assistant Professor

Kurgan Limb center (RTO), RUSSIA

Fellow: San Diego Hospital for Children San Diego, CA, USA- 2003

Associated Professor: Yeditepe University Hospital 2006-2010

Professor: Istanbul university Cerrahpasa Medical faculty Orthopedics and Travmatology 2010-still working

Pediatric orthopedics: Universal German (Taksim) Hospital 2012-still working

Clinic: Istanbul Cerrahi Hospital 2012-still working
 

Contact Info

Address : Ferah Sokak No: 22 34365 Nişantaşı / İstanbul
Telephone : 0212 296 94 50 - 3503
Fax : 0212 296 94 82
E-mail : minan@drmuharreminan.com
Website: http://www.drmuharreminan.com/en/

[IamAndrew]

I understand Ilizarov frames are the most rudimentary method for CLL, and I know LON has the advantage of more comfort during the consolidation phase, but isn't drilling a hole, lengthwise through your tibia or femur, going to have long-term problems? I can't really imagine it not having any negative impact on someone, especially if it's drilled through the knee. Seems like if you want to maintain athleticism, and don't care about short-term comfort, then Ilizarov frames are the best bet, right? Even more so than Fitbone? I'm just going off my imagination, if someone has an experience with LON and haven't had any negative consequences from hole drilled through their bone tho, I'd like to hear it.

This doctor looks reasonable. Good find.

[Muse]

Currency rates will fluctuate, here are the estimated USD rates as of now.

Update: May 8th with new information and pricing for Dr Muharrem Inan. 

Classical Ilizarov Technique: 30,000 TL =   14,345 USD
LON: 44,000 TL  =  21,095 USD
Lengthening and then Plating: 44,000 TL = 21,095 USD
Internal Methods: 150,000 TL  = $72,105 USD

[BilateralDamage]

His internal method is less than 50K USD?! I thought ChrisIsaak spent way more than that!

[TRS]

His internal method is less than 50K USD?! I thought ChrisIsaak spent way more than that!

I'm pretty sure he included the cost of accommodation, food and physio etc....
Otherwise his price are very descent and I might consider him for LATP

[BilateralDamage]

I'm pretty sure he included the cost of accommodation, food and physio etc....
Otherwise his price are very descent and I might consider him for LATP

Even so.. the total cost of surgery, physio, accommodations for 3 months of lengthening should come out to around $59,000, which is a really good price!  I thought Chris spent somewhere around $90,000.    I think Dr. Inan is a very valid option, considering his results and pricing.

[alps]

Even so.. the total cost of surgery, physio, accommodations for 3 months of lengthening should come out to around $59,000, which is a really good price!  I thought Chris spent somewhere around $90,000.    I think Dr. Inan is a very valid option, considering his results and pricing.

What else do you know about his "results" apart from ChrisIsaak?

[BilateralDamage]

What else do you know about his "results" apart from ChrisIsaak?

I'm not aware of any other of his patients outcomes, so I should have said good "result" as opposed to "results". Sue me 

[ChrisIsaak]

Hey guys,

Sorry that I haven't been able to update much recently. I've been having a busy week. 

I would like to share something with all of you. I am trying to set up a business with Dr.Inan to bring international patients here for LL. Although he's usually busy treating other orthopedic patients and mostly children with cerebral palsy, Dr.Inan has done a significant amount of lengthening cases also. As a native Turkish speaker and a US dual citizen, I wanted to help him with international patients, especially during translation. If you decide to do LL here, I'll gladly be there during your consultation, you can meet me in person and see how a former patient is recovering. I'll also gladly help you if you need anything during your stay, but I still advise you to bring someone along with you to take care of you, at least for the first two weeks post-op. I can pick you up from the airport also, just like I did for many of my friends from college.

Since there's been a lot of drama on LL forums recently regarding luring patients in to unqualified doctors for money, I would like to state that I have another job. I'm not desperate to bring everyone here for LL. While Dr.Inan was the best choice for me, Dr.Guichet might be the best choice for you, and Dr.Paley for someone else. This is your health and I want things to be clear and transparent - there won't be anything shady here. I've told Dameon all about this a while ago, and he can confirm. I want you to make the best decision for yourself. Sometimes, that might even be not doing LL at all. It's nice to make money, but I won't do this in the expense of others' health. I'm helping Dr.Inan because he's a genuinely nice person and he helped me overcome my difficulties.

To clarify things a bit further, so how do I make money out of this business? Simple - when one pays for LL, there are five  parameters - the doctors' cost, the hospital cost, the materials cost, accommodation and physiotherapy. These add up to the total cost. If you decide to do LL here, I will earn from a portion from the doctors' cost. In brief, the total amount you pay doesn't change, the doctor earns less, I get a commission from what he earns. How much? I really don't know yet, we haven't talked about it. I'm not like Harry or Sunny from India though. There is no guesthouse here. Most likely you'll be staying in a hotel nearby the hospital. If you're doing LON/LATP/Externals, then maybe you can stay in an apartment/residence nearby. Since the patient stays in a wheelchair with internals, I would advise you to stay in a hotel's handicapped room (as I did) if you're doing Precice of Fitbone. I'll gladly help you with accommodation also.

If you decide to do LL here, I encourage you to write a diary about your experiences. If you wish to do so, please write everything, good and bad, and feel free to criticize anything you'd like to. I had problems with the hotel, I had problems about early consolidation, I have a leg length discrepancy of about 1 cm at the moment and I wrote all about it. I've had perfect results, but the journey itself was a bumpy road. So no sugarcoating here.

Finally, please allow me some time to clarify things a bit further. I'll meet Dr.Inan next week and we'll talk about price packages and making deals with hotels nearby to reduce accommodation costs. I apologize since there's been a misunderstanding in the internals price. I emailed Dr.Inan and he told me that he gave me the price of one nail, not two nails, so I had to multiply that by two. (Funny that he's not thinking about bilateral stature lengthening while telling me the total cost, I guess it's habit.. most of his LL cases weren't cosmetic after all). So the total cost of lengthening with internal nails adds up to 150,000TL ($72,000), excluding accommodation and physiotherapy. Other costs (LON/LATP/Externals) are the same, there's only been a confusion about internals. Once again, I apologize for the confusion.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Cheers,
Chris





 

[ChrisIsaak]

The physiotherapy cost is expensive.    Good thing it's optional.

1000 Turkish Lira equals 480 USD weekly which means 1920 USD monthly.   Multiply by that by 3-4 months and it adds up.

Physio is too expensive here, I agree. But don't think about PT as an optional thing if you want good results. If you're thinking about skipping PT, don't do LL for your own good. Cheers.

[IamAndrew]

So apparently his website from the OP has been hacked.

Have any diaries come out of this Dr. yet?

And can someone please explain what plating is exactly?

ETA: I just read this about it http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22083361
Shorter consolidation phase but "associated with a high incidence of varus deformity" doesn't sound good to me.

[ChrisIsaak]

Hey Andrew!

Thanks for letting us know about the website hacking. I contacted the doctor and the problem with the website is resolved.

I have a Fitbone Femur Diary with Dr.Inan. I'm his only patient so far who wrote a diary on international forums. He has a couple of patients writing on local (Turkish) websites.

[KiloKAHN]

So apparently his website from the OP has been hacked.

Have any diaries come out of this Dr. yet?

And can someone please explain what plating is exactly?

ETA: I just read this about it http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22083361
Shorter consolidation phase but "associated with a high incidence of varus deformity" doesn't sound good to me.

On the other hand, plate fixation seems to have a lower incidence of malalignment than nailing.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21904230

[ChrisIsaak]

Guys, has anyone contacted Dr.Inan for surgery? Today we had a phone conversation and he told me that he recently had email conversations with 4 international patients. The emails got erased by accident, so if anyone has contacted him previously, please just send another email. Thanks 

[ChrisIsaak]

Photos From The Clinic









[/quote]

[Time4LL]

I think if you are looking to do the classic method of external only this seems to be a good option. Do other people feel the same way? I might try to go to him, is anyone else considering this? If a person could rent an apartment accommodation cost wouldn't be that high either. If anyone knows anything or is interested in him let me know maybe we could go around the same time and contact each other. Thanks.

[Taller]

Is Dr. Inan's LON price only for tibiae, or can he also do LON femurs for the same price?

[ChrisIsaak]

Is Dr. Inan's LON price only for tibiae, or can he also do LON femurs for the same price?

It's the same price for femurs.

[Taller]

Wow, now that is definitely a tantalizing price for femurs. Would you happen to know about how many weeks of physiotherapy would be necessary for a LON femoral lengthening procedure?

[ChrisIsaak]

Wow, now that is definitely a tantalizing price for femurs. Would you happen to know about how many weeks of physiotherapy would be necessary for a LON femoral lengthening procedure?

It really depends on the amount of lengthening. I did physiotherapy 5 days a week throughout lengthening and continued even after the lengthening stopped. Some patients choose to do physiotherapy themselves, others work with a physiotherapist.

[DreamBuilder]

Hello. I am very interested ChrisIsaak. I am a healthy male from USA in mid 30s.

I want to gain 8cm. Does the doctor limit height of CLL?

Thanks.

[ChrisIsaak]

Hello Dreambuilder,

Dr.Inan limits lengthening amounts to safe and achieveable limits, although 8 cm is certainly within that limit. 8 cm is all that an internal nail can go - for LON, more is possible, but we usually lengthen up to 8 cm at most and stop there even if it's theoretically possible to go further.

[DreamBuilder]

Sent you a private message. Please reply. Thanks.

[NoLimit]

What is the doctors opinion about LON and possible chronic kneep pain?

[KrP1]

is there any way to get in contact with this doctor ? i have sent him some emails but he didnt reply

[heightangel]

He has a funny face

[Bohemia]

Hello Chris, I am seriously interested in this procedure. Please let me know when you have a moment to chat.

[tallerbetter]

Hello Chris, I am seriously interested in this procedure. Please let me know when you have a moment to chat.

Why? You had already chosen Paley. What did it happen?

[upandaway]

Hi, I can't get in touch with Dr Inan. Is he still doing LL? Thanks.

[becometaller]

Good doctor and good hospital

[ub40]

Wait these prices are considered good?? Am I missing something here, from what I gather these are close to Germany prices, why wouldn't someone go there instead