Tibial lengthening
A adult knock knees case at the Dr. Donghoon institute (DALRI), Korea (ILIZAROV · 12 months post-op), with 10 before and after radiographs.
- Category
- Adult knock knees
- Gained
- —
- Height
- —
- Follow-up
- 12 months
Drag the handle to compare before and after (arrow keys work too). Before and after adult knock knees, case 15977455, image 2, Dr. Donghoon institute (DALRI)
About this case
This patient was treated in the bowlegs, knock knees & knee osteoarthritis group (adult knock knees) at the Dr. Donghoon institute (DALRI) in Seoul.
This is an alignment or limb-length correction, so the source record carries no centimetre gain; the result is read from the mechanical axis on the radiographs instead.
The series on this page contains 10 images, in the order the hospital published them.
Technique and segment
The Ilizarov ring frame works without any implant inside the bone and can correct alignment in every plane, which keeps it the workhorse for complex deformity and infected cases.
Tibial lengthening runs through the calf and Achilles complex, which tightens quickly, so physiotherapy during distraction focuses on ankle range; the safe gain per segment is usually smaller than in the femur.
Timeline and how to read the radiographs
In deformity-correction cases the distraction phase is shorter than in height cases, because the goal is realignment rather than distance gained.
This series was taken 12 months after surgery. The new bone is approaching the density of native bone, and most patients are walking normally by this point.
Daily physiotherapy through the distraction phase is the single strongest predictor of the result: patients who stop stretching run into joint stiffness far more often than into problems with the bone itself.
All images are published by the Dr. Donghoon institute (DALRI) and shown with permission. Individual results vary; these cases are not a guarantee of outcome.
