Surgery Day

Today I went to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children to watch a couple of surgeries. The two primary cases were both lower limb corrections, one tibial and one femoral. The first case, was the result of an infection the child had when he was still an infant (he's 10 now). One side of his growth plate was destroyed so his lower leg only grows on one side. The ring system that we are evaluating uses a stack of three rings that are pinned in place around the leg. The rings are rigidly attached to each other, mostly. The ring above and below the point where the bone is cut will be swiveled slowly over the next month allowing a wedge of new bone to fill in which straightens and lengthens the leg.

The second case was caused by a congenital condition where one leg grows half as fast as the other. This patient was 12 years old and had been through a number of these surgeries before. He needed straightening in two different planes and pure grown at both incisions. The two incisions will have to be done at least six weeks apart, even though the frame was pre-built to do the whole procedure. When he needs the second incision it will be a very short procedure to cut the bone.

The most amazing thing that we saw though was a young girl with a severe (180 degree) spine curvature. That is not a typo. In her before picture she looked like she was leaning against a pillow, but that was really her butt propping up her back. They modified the ring system and straightened her out pretty well. They were removing the frame today. She has 14 pin holes in her back and hips and hasn't been able to lay down for four months.

The ring system is like one that we already have, just scaled down for pediatric patients. But the software that they are bundling with the system is amazing. It allows them pre-build the frame which saves hours in the OR and makes for a much more precise correction.

We are developing a long term relation ship with this hospital and I think that it may be one of the best things that we've ever done. The hospital is one of the best teaching facilities in the world, it's all free but you have to be recommended for treatment. I hope to spend a lot of time out there over the next couple of years.