Hey guys,
I have finally decided that I want to go through with this procedure at the end of this year.
The question is, who should I go to and what method should I use?
Honestly, I am thinking of Dr Birkholtz, Dr Catagni, and Dr Pili. Im a little more nervous about Guichet.
My biggest concern as many of you know are issues such as amputation, death, non union, and permanently walking with a limp.
However, recently other concerns that Dr Catagni and Dr Pili brought about were the fact that they say that femur lengthening is not good aesthetically. They say you should only do Tibias . But then again, if I do tibias with Internals, I run the risk of permanent knee pain. But if I do externals, I would have to not work for almost a year in order to recover.
I am only looking to lengthen 52 mm which is exactly 2 inches.
But now more than ever I am confused.
In an ideal world, I would want to be out for 4 months come back to the states and work since I work in an office environment. But at the same time, I want aesthetics to look good and I want to have most of my athletic ability back as well.
Here is what I have as far as different methods
Internal femurs Pros:
Will be able to recover the fastest
Cons:
Possible fat embolism
Aesthetically speaking, it will look bad having long femurs but short tibias
External Tibias Pros:
Least risky procedure as far as long term consequences go
Aesthetically pleasing
Cons:
Long recovery time
Wont be able to work in frames
Pin site infection posibility
LON/LATN Pros:
Longer time than Precise but shorter time than externals
Can go back to work after frame removals.
Aesthetically pleasing tibias.
Cons:
Risk of permanent knee pain
So I guess I need your guys advice on how to proceed.
I have finally decided to go through with LL at the end of this year. Need help.
Quote from: 682 on March 07, 2017, 08:28:07 PM
Honestly before I spoke to Catagni and Pili I was leaning towards internal fémurs.
They do internal fémurs as well so they said they would respect my wishes.
I've been impressed with Birkholtz. He always responds and seems genuine. But at the same time I hear Catagni I's amazing so who wouldn't want to get precise done with him?
Price wise for internals Catagni and Birkholtz are roughly the same.
Quote from: TIBIKE200 on March 07, 2017, 08:21:00 PMAesthetically, it depends on the initial ratio between the two. normal ratio is 56/44 (or even 58/42 if I remember correctly) all the way to 52/48. Now, post op problem with tibial LL (especially big lengthening) might be that you won't be able to wear shoes which are not flat due to an already high knee post tibia LL.
My guess is that docs like Catagni say this because he is truly a master of tibia LL (considered almost a god among CLL and those who do LL for non cosmetic purposes) while docs like rozbruch and Paley say exactly the opposite for the same reason.
In the end, having a starting height of 5'8, 2 inches in either part will not cause any real visible disporoportion..
OK good to know. Lately though just to be fair,
I've been hearing a lot of people with issues as far as post op complications. The Guichet patient that hasn't grown any bone. That's freaking scary. I don't know why that happened to her. Is it because she lengthened to much? Or is it because she didn't walk on it?
Will bone ever grow again or has the body stopped trying? So many questions.
I work for the state and the state offers great insurance. If the state can cover hospital expenses I might just go with Rozbruch
Quote from: Body Builder on March 07, 2017, 11:59:57 PMYves why Monegal isn't in your options?
Also, I don't think that Catagni does internal femur, I think that only his student, Pili, does.
But his prices for precise 2 are about 55.000 euro which is too much imo compared to about 38.000 euro of Monegal (with fitbone) or to about 42.000 euro of Birkholz (and precise 2 too).
Guichet will never be a choice for me due to his ridiculous price, his old nail, his weird and not caring character and (the most important) his many bad outcomes.
Monegal was one of my options but there's a user on this forum that made me worry about going to monegal.
Also I agree with 6feetsoon. Birkholtz deals with trauma on a regular basis and has only done 10 patients using precise. But most of his cases come from accidents. That gives me some peace of mind.
Quote from: Body Builder on March 08, 2017, 02:45:52 AMCatagni would have been my first choice, although I completely disagree with him for doing achilles tendon lengthening. He is a very experienced doctor and has done hundreds of tibial lengthenings and most of the times not for cosmetic reasons.
He is a truly capable doctor and I believe his student, Pili, is capable to so I'd easily trust them for tibia LL.
Also, for tibias I'd prefer externals only, not LON. If you lengthen reasonably (about 6cm) you'll have the frames for 9-10 months and you are completely done, with no need for further surgeries to remove the nail some years after or possible knee pains due to nail etc.
Imo the best option for tibias is external only with good frames like taylor spatial and for femurs internals only with a good nail like precise or fitbone.
Those 10 months are too long though. Unless you have alot of funds and don't care about losing job or seeing friends and family.
What do you say to someone if they ask did you get taller?
Quote from: The Kaiser on March 08, 2017, 06:29:16 AMExternal Tibias Pros:
Least risky procedure as far as long term consequences go
Aesthetically pleasing
just lol. Tibia is more risky because you have to cut two bones, then who's this doctor that favor tibia among femur!!, Man if you have a good budget go to Guichet, Paley or Rozbruch trust me. Faster walking unaided Guichet, Most experienced Paley and best external is Rozbruch. your choice, Good luck
That's what Catagni said as far as better aesthetics.
Why Guichet and not Birkholtz?
Quote from: bander72 on March 08, 2017, 08:48:59 AMThere's a reason why Paley charges more for tibia and recommends to do femurs first. Even in external there is more risk with tibia. If it was not so painful and produced horrible scars more doctors would do externals on the femur.
More risk for what though? Athletic ability, death, tendon issues,?
What exactly would more risk entail?
Quote from: jbc on March 09, 2017, 01:08:34 AMAt your starting height, my suggestion, FWIW, is internal femurs. As far as the docs you listed, Dr. Birkholtz, hands down. As I said in another thread, if time zone were not a factor, Dr. Birkholtz would be my first choice.
Best of luck!!
Thank you jbc. I was thinking that as well. Hopefully I get really lucky and end up avoiding complications that many on here end up getting.
In fact, it seems that just about everyone on here has gotten complications :/
Quote from: TheLichKing on March 09, 2017, 04:03:48 AMwhy not also consider Parihar for Internals? And yes, go for internal femurs first since they allow you to gain a greater height of 1-2 cm than tibia lengthening and are less invasive plus recovery is better. Both Parihar and Birkholtz are great choices for femur lengthening.
They both are talked about positively here. However, I don't know of any patients that have gone to them. Actually for parihar yes but Birkholtz I couldn't find any diaries :/
Quote from: TheLichKing on March 09, 2017, 04:03:48 AMwhy not also consider Parihar for Internals? And yes, go for internal femurs first since they allow you to gain a greater height of 1-2 cm than tibia lengthening and are less invasive plus recovery is better. Both Parihar and Birkholtz are great choices for femur lengthening.
They both are talked about positively here. However, I don't know of any patients that have gone to them. Actually for parihar yes but Birkholtz I couldn't find any diaries :/
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