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Tibial lengthening over humeral and tibial intramedullary nails in patients with sequelae of poliomyelitis: a comparative study

International Orthopaedics volume 35, pages 935–940 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Leg discrepancy is common after poliomyelitis. Tibial lengthening is an effective way to solve this problem. It is believed lengthening over a tibial intramedullary nail can provide a more comfortable lengthening process than by the conventional technique. However, patients with sequelae of poliomyelitis typically have narrow intramedullary canals allowing limited space for inserting a tibial intramedullary nail and Kirschner wires. To overcome this problem, we tried using humeral nails instead of tibial nails in the lengthening procedure. In this study, we used humeral nails in 20 tibial lengthening procedures and compared the results with another group of patients who were treated with tibial lengthening over tibial intramedullary nails. The mean consolidation index, percentage of increase and external fixation index did not show significant differences between the two groups. However, less blood loss and shorter operating time were noted in the humeral nail group. More patients encountered difficulty with the inserted intramedullary nail in the tibial nail group procedure. The complications did not show a statistically significant difference between the two techniques on follow-up. In conclusion, we found the humeral nail lengthening technique was more suitable in leg discrepancy patients with sequelae of poliomyelitis.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai 6th People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200233, People’s Republic of China

    Daoyun Chen, Jianmin Chen, Yao Jiang & Fanggang Liu

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  1. Daoyun Chen
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  2. Jianmin Chen
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  3. Yao Jiang
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  4. Fanggang Liu
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Correspondence to Yao Jiang.

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The authors claim that none of the material in the paper has been published or is under consideration for publication elsewhere.

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Chen, D., Chen, J., Jiang, Y. et al. Tibial lengthening over humeral and tibial intramedullary nails in patients with sequelae of poliomyelitis: a comparative study. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 35, 935–940 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-010-1032-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-010-1032-6

Keywords

  • External Fixation
  • Intramedullary Nail
  • Poliomyelitis
  • Distraction Osteogenesis
  • Kirschner Wire