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Bone Deformity

These images show a patient before and after treatment for a severe developmental bone deformity.

What is a bone deformity?

A bone deformity is a deviation or distortion of the bone from its normal shape or size. It may also be positioned incorrectly which causes poor alignment. Bones may become deformed for many reasons. These include:

congenital (from birth)
developmental (from abnormal growth during childhood), and
post-traumatic (from healing in a deformed position after a fracture).

Bones may be deformed in four ways:

angulation (a bend in the bone),
rotation or torsion (a twist in the bone),
translation or displacement (a shift in the position of the bone after a fracture or osteotomy), or
limb length discrepancy (a difference in the length of a bone compared with the other side).

Although each of the different types of bone deformities can exist on its own, it is very common to see combinations of two or more of these deformity components together.

How is bone deformity treated?

The surgical techniques developed and used at the International Center for Limb Lengthening allow the simultaneous correction of combinations of deformities. The most common combination is correction of angulation with lengthening. Our surgeons most frequently treat bone deformities with corrective osteotomy (cutting of the bone). Corrective osteotomy requires either internal fixation or external fixation to stabilize the broken bone. To learn more about how the International Center for Limb Lengthening corrects bone deformities, please see Deformity Correction: The Process.

Why choose the International Center for Limb Lengthening for treatment of bone deformity?

The International Center for Limb Lengthening surgeons are internationally recognized for their work in the field of bone deformities. They have performed extensive research in this field and have contributed greatly to the science and understanding of bone deformities. Because they see the most difficult deformity cases from all over the world, they have been challenged with developing many new surgical methods to better treat lower and upper limb and foot deformities in children and adults. They have published extensively on this subject, including “The Art of Limb Alignment,” a concise guide for surgeons to master limb deformity correction, and “The Art of Limb Alignment: Taylor Spatial Frame,” which specifically focuses on treatment using the Taylor Spatial Frame, a limb lengthening and deformity correction device. The International Center for Limb Lengthening doctors also teach an annual Baltimore Limb Deformity Course, hosting over 250 surgeons from over 40 countries who attend the course to learn deformity correction principles and methods from our experts.

Deformity correction is a complex process. The International Center for Limb Lengthening is the most experienced center for deformity correction and limb lengthening in North America. Our patients have come from over 60 countries and six continents to receive comprehensive orthopedic treatment by our world-renowned team. Your doctor will take the time to make sure you understand all of your options and then will customize your treatment to meet your specific needs. Our patients benefit from our team-centered approach with expert surgeons and specialized physician assistants, nurses and physical therapists. We help patients with bone deformities achieve their best possible result.