The Ilizarov Method
This method is actually many methods and techniques, invented by the late Professor Gavriil Ilizarov, a Russian surgeon assigned to an isolated Siberian hospital in the 1940's. The Limb Correction Process is actually a reshaping of injured or deformed limbs, involving little invasive treatment. It relies on the body's ability to heal itself through distraction osteogenesis.
Distraction osteogenesis is achieved by surgically applying and external fixator, (much like a bone scaffold), and then creating a special fracture of the affected bone called a corticotomy. This bone cut is performed through an often very small incision, leaving the surrounding muscle and periosteum, with its healing blood supply, attached to the bone. The external fixator is designed and built before surgery to match the existing deformity. It is attached to the limb through bone by thin steel wires and thicker titanium pins. Postoperatively, under the direction of the surgeon, the patient gradually adjusts the fixator, slowly reshaping the bone to correct length or deformity. As the bone segments separate, new bone tissue forms in the gap, ultimately assuming the strength of the original bone.
Orthopaedic surgeons usually stabilize ordinary fractures with casts, rods, or plates. Particularly severe fractures (those that extend into the knee or ankle joint, those that are compound injuries, or those that are shattered into many pieces) are often slow to heal because of the damaged blood supply. These "problem fractures" can now be treated with external fixation from start to finish, avoiding severe complications that can be associated with conventional treatment.
Although external fixators have been used for years, newer developments now allow better compatibility and fewer side effects. The newer fixators are designed to simulate natural conditions of bone, allowing patients to use the limb more normally during the correction process and speed healing.
