Treatment spectrum

Leg shortenings — congenital, growth-related or as a result of an accident — with or without additional deformities, can be corrected advantageously and safely with motorized intramedullary distraction nails. Here, the patient's own bone is stimulated to grow and later no longer differs from naturally grown bone.

If one arm is significantly shorter than the other, this often results in painful tension in the shoulder area or even functional disabilities. In short-stature patients, when both arms are too short, elementary personal hygiene is often more difficult. With motorized distraction nails, upper arms can be lengthened comfortably and painlessly — without any external fixators.

In cases of short stature caused by disease (achondroplasia, Turner syndrome, etc.), bilateral leg lengthening can significantly reduce disability and help to lead a more normal life. With motorized distraction nails, deformities are corrected and legs are lengthened safely and reliably — without external fixators.

For people who feel disadvantaged by being too short, a bilateral leg lengthening is the only way to actually change their body height. ZEM-Germany's experience in the field of leg lengthening with the world's best and most reliable implants guarantees a safe treatment and leaves hardly any scars.

If the femoral head (ball) is displaced upwards due to a maldevelopment of the acetabulum (socket) and the leg is shortened as a result, a new method developed at ZEM-Germany can be used to replace the femoral head into the correct position. After this procedure, the implantation of an anatomically correct prosthesis is made possible and the leg is lengthened at the same time.

When a malignant bone tumor (osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma) is diagnosed in children and adolescents, not only the tumor but often also the growth plate must be resected. The normal growth of the opposite side results in a leg length difference. With a new type of "biological growth prosthesis" (BioXpand) developed at ZEM-Germany, the remaining bone can be lengthened, which in many cases makes disfiguring rotationplasty unnecessary, and opens up completely new reconstruction options.

As long as the growth plates in children and adolescents are still open, disturbed growth can be corrected by a very small surgical intervention in many cases. This means that in some patients a major operation can be avoided in adulthood — an opportunity for which there is only a small window of opportunity.

Disturbances of normal leg geometry can lead to abnormal loading on joints and premature joint wear. Both in young people as a preventive measure and in older people when wear has already occurred, axis or torsion corrections are an important treatment option for joint preservation and can in many cases avoid or at least delay the need for an artificial knee joint replacement.

If a ray on the hand or foot is shortened so that the joints are no longer in line, significant functional impairment can result. Correction with mini-fixators leads to improvement of fist closure or foot rolling movement.

After a clavicle fracture or a congenital shoulder that is too narrow on one or both sides, the upper arm protrudes from the body and the patient constantly feels a cushion under the arm, which leads to functional impairments. Since the shoulder width is determined by the length of the clavicles, a clavicle lengthening can provide relief.

Bone infections after open bone fractures or through the spread of germs via the bloodstream can become a permanent problem if the bone is poorly supplied with blood and offers the germs places to reside where antibiotics can't reach them.

Long bone defects after serious accidents or after removal of bone tumors can be replaced with the body's own bone tissue so that a continuous, stable bone is created again. The most modern procedures to achieve this are available worldwide at ZEM-Germany.

Under unfavorable conditions, the residual limb after an amputation can be so short that a prosthesis cannot be securely fixed despite exhausting all possibilities of prosthetic fitting. In these cases, a prosthesis can only be secured after lengthening the bone and surrounding soft tissue. Lengthening the residual limb with an ultra-short intramedullary distraction nail is an alternative to an external fixator.

Leg length differences can be corrected by lengthening the shorter side as well as by shortening the longer side.