Lengthening of the lower extremity by the Wagner method. A review of the Boston Children's Hospital Experience.

Thirty-eight patients underwent forty lengthenings of the lower extremity between October 1972 and January 1979. There were twenty-four femoral and sixteen tibial lengthenings. The average length gained was 6.59 centimeters for the patients with femoral lengthenings and 4.77 centimeters for those with tibial lengthenings. While the over-all complication rate was high (92 per cent), it did not significantly affect the ultimate goal of equalization of limb length. We think that the Wagner method is the procedure of choice for continuous distraction lengthening when the severity of the limb-length inequality merits major surgical intervention.