PRACTICAL METHOD OF PREDICTING THE GROWTH OF THE FEMUR AND TIBIA IN THE CHILD

Abstract

Inequality in the length of legs is a problem which is fundamentally important to the orthopedic surgeon. Before the development of our method of leg lengthening,¹ the standard treatment prescribed for patients with shortening of one of the lower extremities was the application of a lift to the sole of the shoe.² The success of the method employed by us aroused new interest on the part of orthopedic surgeons in many clinics throughout the country. Later, the original technic was modified in the hope that the operation could be simplified and freed from complications.³ Despite these efforts, the operation remains today one of considerable magnitude and one to be performed only in a selected group of cases. It should never be attempted by the inexperienced surgeon who lacks detailed and anatomic knowledge of every step of the operation and the postoperative care. After considerable experience with the