Tibial and femoral lengthening: a report of 54 cases

Forty-eight patients have undergone 54 leg-lengthening procedures (30 femoral and 24 tibial). The average age at the time of lengthening was 12.3 years. The average follow-up was 5 years. Six different methods have been used for lengthening: Wagner (38 procedures), Anderson (12 procedures), Abbott-Bost, one-stage step-cut, Barnes plate, and Steinmann pin with turnbuckles (1 procedure each). The average preoperative limb-length discrepancy was 7.6 cm; the average lengthening achieved was 6 cm, or 21% of the lengthened bone. Seventy-five percent of our patients had good results, 12.5% had fair results, and 12.5% had poor results; of those with fair and poor results, 75% had congenital limb deficiencies.