LL Procedure Newbie

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Hello fellow LLers.

I'm currently 5'5, maybe 5'5 and a 1/2, and would like to do the Femur procedure with Dr. Debiparshad. I live in Houston, TX. I was told he's the best Dr for this procedure, unless you guys have any suggestions?

My question is, how common are the complications? I'm afraid of nerve damage. I'm 38 years old, in very good shape/health.

I'm also nervous about only getting 1-2 inches from this surgery, and not the full 3... How common is it that patients only get some of the inches and not all?

Thanks!
Alexander

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See this: Conclusion - almost everyone get to at least 7 cm.

http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=65931.0

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I would look up other surgeons in the US before making your decision. There are a number of other doctors here in the states with quite a bit more experience and proven track record than Dr D. 

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Quote from: athenian1984 on July 12, 2023, 03:32:09 PMHello fellow LLers.

I'm currently 5'5, maybe 5'5 and a 1/2, and would like to do the Femur procedure with Dr. Debiparshad. I live in Houston, TX. I was told he's the best Dr for this procedure, unless you guys have any suggestions?

My question is, how common are the complications? I'm afraid of nerve damage. I'm 38 years old, in very good shape/health.

I'm also nervous about only getting 1-2 inches from this surgery, and not the full 3... How common is it that patients only get some of the inches and not all?

Thanks!
Alexander

The general consensus is that Dr. Paley in Palm Beach, Florida, is the “best” limb lengthening surgeon. That being said, Paley is considerably more expensive. Really can’t go wrong with any of the main 5 US surgeons though (Paley, Rozbruch, Mahboubian, Assayag, and Debiparshad). Just avoid Turkey, Greece, Russia, India or any other third world clinic no matter how cheap they may be lol.

Most people are able to get the full 3 inches on femurs.

As for complications, Paley has a pretty good summary of them here:

https://paleyinstitute.org/centers-of-excellence/stature-lengthening/complications/#/

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I’d actually advise going with someone who isn’t just a proficient surgeon but also one that seems like they care about you. Payley is generally considered the best but is he also has a lot of stories about him being an   and having a massive ego. This is surgery has a mentally challenging, and for many people, scary aspect to it. So for me a surgeon who seems to genuinely care who you feel is invested in your well-being along with being skilled is important.

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GrowGrow123 I don't agree with staying away from Dr. Giotikas in Greece. His basically the best bang for your buck inside Europe, by being the most experienced surgeon compared to the price his offers the surgery for. He even has his own clinic in London as well. There is barely any reliable negative feedback about him on this forum and in generel compared to the rest of surgeons in Europe.

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1 inch I’ve never heard of before.
2 inches is common.

If you lengthen the femur by 2 inches with a doctor in the states then serious complications are very unlikely.

The hard bit will be when you are lengthening. If you lengthen at a rate of 0.75 mm a day, then your two inches would take about (50mm)/(0.75mm/day) = 73.333 days so about two and a half months.

During this time it is advised to remain in the vicinity of the doctor, and to use their personal trainers who assist with stretching the muscles, and maintaining your range of motion.

While lengthening the internal devices (as of today) are not fully weight bearing, so you will have to use crutches while lengthening, and until your new bone has consolidated, in order to not place the full weight on one leg.

A new internal device (precise Max) is rumored to be coming out at the end of 2023 which has better weight bearing properties, but from what I know this is just a rumor, and it could take longer before it comes to use.

After a year or two they will remove the metal rods from the femur, and at this point you are considered fully recovered.

You should expect some permanent reduction in athletic ability afterwards. This is mainly due to the change in center of gravity, and the muscles becoming weaker when lengthened, as far as I know. The less you lengthen and the better the doctor, the less it tends to be. But you should expect not to be able to run and jump as well as you do now. Maybe it is only 5% less from your peak now, maybe 15%. But if this is a deal breaker you should know that going in.

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Quote from: DanishViking on July 12, 2023, 07:28:08 PMGrowGrow123 I don't agree with staying away from Dr. Giotikas in Greece. His basically the best bang for your buck inside Europe, by being the most experienced surgeon compared to the price his offers the surgery for. He even has his own clinic in London as well. There is barely any reliable negative feedback about him on this forum and in generel compared to the rest of surgeons in Europe.

Dr. Giotikas does have at least one person who has died from LL. Whether that’s his fault or just bad luck, I don’t know.

The Guichet nail is also somewhat outdated. Just because it’s fully weight bearing does not mean it’s state-of-the-art.

But yes I think Dr. G doesn’t deserve to be placed in the same category as Turkish surgeons. But also not quite on the same level of safety as the upper tier of surgeons either.

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Well we can agree to disagreeing then. However I believe that your're wrong about the death incident. According to other people on this forum he was a muslim who was fasting, which might have made him more exposed? Also Paley which is the most experienced surgeon in the world has had 3 close death calls with the same complication, which all were smokers but lied about it. He highlighted that in a interview with Cyborg4life, so we don't know whether this one patient were doing something similiar. The EU health agency (don't know the correct term) also investigated the case, and came to the conclusion that DR. Giotikas and his team, couldn't have done anything more than what they did. And almost every surgeon inside EU has at least 1 death out of many thousands cases, which in my opinion is a good track record. One day when it accidently happens in the US, everyone will call this procedure to dangerous and unsafe... So to conclude, please stop spreading misinformation about Greece being a bad choice because it's actually the oppisite.

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I know it would be better to do the procedure with a doctor within my area , but I’m in Houston TX. Is there anybody in my area who can do this procedure well?