Giotikas will use Gichet Nail

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I think that is good news.  I am now seriously considering the G-Nail in Greece.

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I understand I'm taking the risky option, but I have strong reasons for it and for my personal situation. I will say more about that when I start my diariy. Feel free to use me as a guinea pig¡

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Quote from: V21 on August 05, 2021, 05:41:50 AMNo, it's totally right, this nail allow you to get 1 cm in surgery, which sabes you 10 days. I did ask him though about how is that possible, as the normal safe rythm is 0.1 mm per day. He explained it extensively to me, and I lack a bit of English to reproduce it, but it is not problematic when it happens after cutting the bone. The rest is the same as always: 7 days rest, and lenghtening starts. I do believe him, as I know of Betzbone patients who got 0.8 cm on surgery and had no issue.

Wow! Thanks for verifying. I’m not up on the gnail specifics and my review of accounts for initial lengths gained just based on the initial surgery seems all over the place. Good luck!

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Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on August 06, 2021, 01:18:34 AMWow! Thanks for verifying. I’m not up on the gnail specifics and my review of accounts for initial lengths gained just based on the initial surgery seems all over the place. Good luck!

Your bone canal will be milled to fit the width of the nail. The bonemeal will be a muddy form which can be used to fill the distraction gap for faster consolidation. How much of an initial gap depends on how much bone was milled. For example, I had a 6mm initial gap after milling 3mm in bonemeal. Other Betz patients have had 7mm in initial gap. Too large of an initial gap increases the likihood of non-union, hence why you don't distract 5mm a day. I'm surprised Giotikas can create a 1cm initial gap. It's not too outrageous, but if you're young and a fast bone grower, accelerating your lengthening by 10 days might be worth it.

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Quote from: SirStretchAlot on August 06, 2021, 09:41:37 AMYour bone canal will be milled to fit the width of the nail. The bonemeal will be a muddy form which can be used to fill the distraction gap for faster consolidation. How much of an initial gap depends on how much bone was milled. For example, I had a 6mm initial gap after milling 3mm in bonemeal. Other Betz patients have had 7mm in initial gap. Too large of an initial gap increases the likihood of non-union, hence why you don't distract 5mm a day. I'm surprised Giotikas can create a 1cm initial gap. It's not too outrageous, but if you're young and a fast bone grower, accelerating your lengthening by 10 days might be worth it.

Well, he said around 1 cm, so maybe in reality it's like 0.7 or so. However, if you read old Guichet diaries, everyone says 1 full cm.

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Hey V21,

I’m also going to use Dr. Giotikas. I want to do mine in December. I have a 15 min consultation with him next week. What do you think about the Guichet nail? I definitely don’t want to be the only one doing that nail with him, as you said he doesn’t have a lot of experience with it.

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Quote from: Nyc brother on August 06, 2021, 11:02:54 PMHey V21,

I’m also going to use Dr. Giotikas. I want to do mine in December. I have a 15 min consultation with him next week. What do you think about the Guichet nail? I definitely don’t want to be the only one doing that nail with him, as you said he doesn’t have a lot of experience with it.

Well, two people do it on 24 August, and I do it 25. I will make a diary, so you will be able to have us as guinea pigs hahaha.

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Quote from: V21 on August 04, 2021, 06:22:37 PMOkey guys, I just had a meeting with Giotikas. If I understood correctly, G-Nail has two sizes: the small one takes 75 kg per leg, the big one 94 (I think, my conection was bad). I have to give an answer the next days, and I strongly believe that some guys here have strong prejudice for mechanical nails, maybe because of Guichet being a problematic surgeon. I do not think they are "crap" nails, and I know a lot of Betzbone guys who have had "Stryde-like" results. However, I still think I favor Precice.

The doctor is quite honest and he does not try to sell anything, and I still have to think about it. I hope this is useful for those who wanted more information regarding G-Nail. From my meeting with Giotikas, I would summarize:

G-NAIL

Weightbearing with crutches since day 1.

You get 1 cm in surgery.

Probably more painful than Precice, but he is really confident that he has good protocols to make clicking easier.

The surgery would be 100% this month. This is important, as I must work online since beginning of October, and it's good to have a month post op before starting.

He does not have as much experience with this nail in comparison with Precice.

The rate of nail malfunction is 1.6 %, which is not much different than Precice.

PRECICE

I would probably get the big nail. He says Precice is not as fragile as we think, so I should have no issues as long as I'm compliant.

I do 5.5 cm, so probably 4 months without being able to walk without walker.

Probably less pain.

He thinks it will be back by September, but he can't confirm 100%.

Has lots of experience with this nail.

Hi v21, thanks for the info, just one question. For the gnail, the pain is more where? Only when clicking? Also could you ask Giotikas if the quality of the regenerate is as good as with precice?

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V21,

Yeah I would love to follow your diary. Excited to get this done. I heard Dr. Guichet can be a jerk, but not necessarily is nails are so bad. They are strong.

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Quote from: Nyc brother on August 07, 2021, 02:31:23 PMV21,

Yeah I would love to follow your diary. Excited to get this done. I heard Dr. Guichet can be a jerk, but not necessarily is nails are so bad. They are strong.

Yeah, I would not go to Guichet. Terrible human being. However, Giotikas is a great doctor, so I think getting G Nail with him is a reasonable risk to take, specially taking into account all the advantages it presents and the fact that Precice is not 100% guaranteed to come back in September.