Percutaneous versus open epiphysiodesis

Epiphysiodesis is used for the treatment of leg-length discrepancy in skeletally immature patients. Phemister described an open technique that requires surgical dissection with potential morbidity. Recently, minimally invasive approaches that utilize intraoperative fluoroscopy have been introduced. The aim of this study is to compare our experience using the open and the minimally invasive percutaneous techniques.

A prospective follow-up of 87 consecutive patients undergoing epiphysiodesis for correction of post traumatic leg-length discrepancy using either the open or the percutaneous technique at the Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 1993 and December 2000.

Out of the 87 patients, 52 were carried out using the open technique and 35 were utilized by this percutaneous technique. There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of demographic date, operative time, perioperative complications or time required to achieve the growth arrest. However, there was a significant difference in the hospital stay and postoperative need for physiotherapy. The percutaneous group had a shorter hospitalization (average 2.5 days) compared to the open technique group (average 4 days).

Our experience is similar to what is reported in the literature and confirms that the percutaneous technique has an advantage over the open technique with shorter hospitalization and less duration of physiotherapy.