Leg Lengthening

For those of you that have posted curious about what Haleigh is having done I am attaching a description of what will take place. Haleigh was born with one leg shorter than the other and the hope was that the leg would continue to grow at the same rate as the other one. It has grown but not as quickly as we had hoped. Haleigh has to have a leg lengthening procedure to correct this.

Leg lengthening is performed under general anesthesia, so that the patient is deep asleep and can't feel pain. Of the several surgical techniques developed, the Ilizarov method, or variation thereof, is the one most often used. An osteotomy is performed, meaning that the bone to be lengthened is cut, usually the lower leg bone (tibia) or upper leg bone (femur). Metal pins or screws are inserted through the skin and into the bone. Pins are placed above and below the cut in the bone and the skin incision is stitched closed. An external fixator is attached to the pins in the bone, which is used after surgery to gradually pull the cut bone apart, creating a gap between the ends of the cut bone in which new bone growth can occur. The fixator functions much like a bone scaffold and will be used very gradually, so that the bone lengthens in extremely small steps. The original Ilizarov external fixator consists of stainless steel rings connected by threaded rods. Each ring is attached to the underlying bone segment by two or more wires, placed under tension to increase stability, yet maintain axial motion. Titanium pins are also used for
supporting the bone segments. Several fixators are available and the choice depends on the desired goal and on specific patient requirements.

Today will be difficult but we know we have God, Family, and Countless Friends praying for us at this time!! We Love you!!!!