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Malunions Treatment and Malunions Surgery

Malunions

Mal-unions occur when bones heal after a fracture in an awkward position. This usually happens if a bone is held or stabilized incorrectly, or if the fractured bone is not treated at all and left out of place.

Patients may feel pain and swelling in the area around the fracture and have trouble placing weight upon the joint, or above or below the fracture area. Most of the time, patients may just notice a bend in their bone.

When a Surgeon sees a patient with a mal-union, he/she reviews the patient's health history, initial treatment and any complications of the treatment.

X-rays are always needed, but most mal-unions often need CT as well. MRIs may be needed to check other problems, such as ligament and cartilage injuries as well as mal-alignment. Limb Lengthening DiscrepancyMal-unions can be surgically treated by breaking the mal-union, realigning the pieces and stabilizing them with plates and screws, a rod, or an external fixator.

In most cases mal-union are severe enough that the correction can not be achieved at once. Therefore application of external fixation is the best remedy. Treatment of mal-union is not an easy task and patients need to seek an experience surgeon to treat this deformity.

Treatment of mal-unions may also include a synthetic bone graft or a graft from the individual's pelvic bone or femur. It is injected directly into the fracture site. Bone grafts bring new cells and special proteins to the wounded site to help the healing.

A bone lengthening procedure called the Ilizarov Method is also way to fix mal-unions. In this method, part of the bone is cut off; the gap in the bone is gradually stretched to grow the bone to an appropriate length.

In the Ilizarov Method, external fixators (which have a wide external frame with a number of metal rings) are used to extend bone gaps and to fix them. This technique requires patients to wear a unilateral external fixator most of the time during the treatment period, shortening the treatment period and making daily life much easier.

Mal-unions require a healing period after surgery, and depending on the physical condition of the patient and the extent of the injury, but in the long run should provide relief and a normal life for the patient. If you or someone you love is interested is suffering from mal-union, an expert in the Ilizarov Method can examine you and give you the best course of action.

The Limb Lengthening Institute of Los Angeles is a premiere medical group and their experienced surgeons are the only doctors who do Ilizarov Method in the Los Angeles area.

The Limb Lengthening Institute of Los Angeles also offers a variety of cosmetic foot surgeries such as….

Please call 626-447-2184 (Arcadia) or 310-551-1711 (Century City) to speak to a foot and ankle specialist about the Ilizarov Method and/or other cosmetic foot needs.


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