Limb Reconstruction

Available locations:

CHI at Crumlin

The Limb Reconstruction Service looks after children with congenital or acquired limb deformities throughout their young lives.

The Limb Reconstruction Service looks after children with congenital or acquired limb deformities throughout their young lives. While some of our cohort of patients are followed with conservative treatment some of them will require orthopaedic surgery and a treatment plan for limb reconstruction.

Contact us

Call this line if you have a query about your child’s stay in the hospital such as date of admission.

Our services

The service encompasses multiple reconstructive orthopaedic techniques. Limb lengthening and limb deformity correction with internal fixation such as nailing and external fixation are carried out.

External fixation may be either using an Ilizarov Frame, a Taylor Spatial Frame (T.S.F) or the L.R.S Rail System.
Internal nail lengthening
We use methods of guided growth and epiphysiodesis to manage growing limb conditions

Conditions we treat

Congenital bone conditions
Congenital deformities of the foot
Fractures with a non-union outcome
Reconstruction following malignant tumour removal.
Treatment of post traumatic limb deformity
Complex trauma fractures requiring external fixation to correct

While knock knees and bowed legs are common in childhood and usually resolve as the child grows. Some limb conditions do not correct on their own and may lead to leg length differences or angular deformity. The Paediatric Limb Reconstruction service is led by Consultants, nurses and physiotherapists who are experts in their field.
In normal skeletal growth, limbs are equal in length and are properly aligned from the hips to the ankles. Sometimes however, congenital abnormalities, infection, injury or other conditions can cause long bones of the leg (e.g. tibia, femur) to grow out of alignment.
This malalignment may often result in joint abnormalities of the leg known as valgus (knock knees) or varus (bowed legs) deformities. In these situations, normal use of the leg is impaired and walking or running may be painful. Unfortunately, bracing is not reliable in the management of these conditions.
The correction of a limb deformity may require one of two surgical options: either an osteotomy or the minimally invasive hemi-epiphysiodesis (guided growth) procedure.

This is a procedure on the epiphyseal (growth) plate in one limb to slow down the growth of a specific bone. Usually, it is carried out if one leg is a different length to the other in order to equalise limb lengths.
During childhood and adolescence, the long bones (femur or tibia and fibula )are each made up of a shaft of bone (diaphysis) and end parts (epiphyses). The epiphyses are separated from the shaft by a layer of cartilage called the epiphyseal or growth plate.
When limbs grow during childhood and adolescence, the epiphyseal plates absorb calcium and develop into bone. By adulthood the plates have been replaced by bone.
During an operation, which is carried out under general anaesthetic, a procedure is done to intentionally damage the growing area of the plate in order to slow the growth of the relevant bone. The resulting benefits are seen between then and when the child completes growth.

Page contents

On this page you will find information about:

Contact us
Our services
Conditions we treat
Clinical Nurse Specialists
Patient and parent information
For healthcare professionals

Clinical Nurse Specialists

Clinical Nurse Specialists work as part of the Multi-Disciplinary Team, coordinating care from first point of contact or referral, to discharge. We follow the patients closely at outpatient clinics, provide parental education on limb reconstruction procedures, manage inpatient stays and provide a drop-in service (face to face , email and telephone) as the service requires, in order to assist our families in managing their treatment at home.

Our clinical nurse specialists are:

Maria Noonan / Anna Mitchell

Phone: 01-409 6754 to leave a voicemail

Email: LR.nurses@childrenshealthireland.ie

Patient and parent information

PDF

Limb Reconstruction: Guided Growth - Eight Plate

236.5 KB

PDF

Limb Reconstruction: Single Entry Percutantaneous Epiphysiodesis

195.2 KB

Bobby's Magical Frame

Bobby's Magical Frame is an illustrated story book and animated video to help prepare children getting an external fixator frame for the first time.

If you are a Children's Health Ireland patient, you can contact our clinical nurse specialist for a copy.

If you do not attend the service, you can purchase a copy of the book on amazon.

For healthcare professionals

To be added.

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