Abstract
We investigated whether the callus formation in the humerus during the distraction period of limb lengthening proceeds at a higher rate than that in the femur and tibia. Ten achondroplastic patients underwent 3 bilateral humerus, 3 bilateral femur and 4 bilateral tibia lengthenings. To reduce the confounding effect of bone size, we used bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) to compare the three groups; this is a volumetric bone mineral density measurement. BMAD in the distracted callus space was evaluated at 8 weeks after the start of distraction using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (mean ± SD; g/cm3): in the humerus (0.24 ± 0.08) it was significantly higher than in the tibia (0.10 ± 0.02), while there was no difference between the humerus and femur (0.35 ± 0.11). We conclude that the callus formation in the humerus during the distraction period of limb lengthening proceeded at a significantly faster rate than in the tibia, but there was no significant difference between the humerus and femur.
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Received: 4 March 1997
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Tanaka, K., Nakamura, K., Matsushita, T. et al. Callus formation in the humerus compared with the femur and tibia during limb lengthening. Arch Orth Traum Surg 117, 262–264 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004020050242
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004020050242