Growth of the femur and tibia after lengthening of their diaphyses,
which had been performed several years before skeletal maturity, was
assessed in eighteen patients by serial orthoroentgenograms. The rate of
growth of the lengthened femora, which had been congenitally short,
increased after each of seven lengthening procedures, from an average
preoperative rate of 82 per cent of the normal side to 90 per cent of the
normal side. The amount of surgical lengthening was similar for the femora
and the tibiae, averaging 18 per cent of the preoperative length of the
bone in the femora and 20 per cent of the preoperative length of the bone
in the tibiae. However, the rate of growth of the lengthened tibiae
decreased after each of eleven lengthening procedures (six performed for a
congenital short tibia; three, for patients who had Ollier's disease; one,
for a patient who had poliomyelitis; and one, for a patient who had
hemangiomas), from an average preoperative rate of 88 per cent of normal to
an average of 64 per cent of normal.