Reconstructive surgery in the lower limb in hemophiliacs

During the years 1973-76, we performed 76 operations on the lower limbs of hemophiliacs in an attempt to correct the disability due to intraarticular hemorrhages. The ways in which rehabilitative surgery can improve function and retard further damage are discussed in the light of the pathogenesis of disability due to intraarticular and intramuscular hemorrhage. Three particularly successful operative procedures are discussed: 1) supracondylar correction of knock-knee, 2) intertrochanteric correction of coxa valga, and 3) evacuation of iliacus hematoma in patients with paralysis of the femoral nerve.