Intramedullary Distraction Devices for Lower Limb Lengthening

Abstract

This study is a retrospective systematic review including articles about lower limb lengthening by pure intramedullary distraction nails. It was searched in Cochrane Library and Medline (PubMed) of internet published articles for the most common intramedullary nails devices used and we compare four nails: PRECICE, FITBONE, ALBIZZA, and ISKD nails. In this study, it was found 50 articles concerning lower limb lengthening of different etiologies, whatever, femoral or tibial lengthening or both in the study period between 2010 to 2019. We excluded half of this number due to different factors. As regard to the demographic characteristics from the previous studies, it was cleared that males were more prominent than females and the mean age was observed in the middle-aged youth than in older patients. It was observed also that the most performed procedure was the Precice nail (235), then the Fitbone (123), followed by ISKD (99) and lastly the Albizza nail (64), which indicated that surgeon prefer the Precice nail of lower limb lengthening than other procedures.