Our American Patient’s Height Reduction Success Story
Our 20-something American patient’s height reduction surgery process was a great success in terms of health and the whole experience in general. During the first month of recovery after limb reduction surgery, it is crucial that the patient stays here according to the order of our doctor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yunus Öç. The reason why is that the possibility of a complication arising after the first month ends is very low.
Just like our doctor recommended, our American patient stayed with us during the first month of her recovery process.
You can see the picture of her standing up during the recovery;
Height Reduction Surgery with Intramedullary Nail
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yunus Öç uses a different technique for the limb reduction surgery. Muscle imbalance is one of the riskiest complications for the limb reduction surgery. Even though it is a low possibility, while the bone is being cut during the surgery, our doctor drills the bone, inserts a nail and puts a fixator on it. This is a prevention. If muscle imbalance happens after the surgery and it can’t be fixed with physical therapy, thanks to the fixator attached to the leg, the legs can be lengthened back to their original length so that the complication is being treated.
You can watch how our American patient’s limb reduction surgery went from this video;
These images are taken during our patient’s physiotherapy sessions
During her recovery process, our patient stated that “I didn’t need any painkillers after I was discharged and I only got blood thinners and antibiotics. During the first few weeks, I had some edema on my legs and they looked a little puffy but soon later, it went away.”
Our patient was able to walk the next day after her surgery without any problems. Thus, her blood circulation was regulated.
“There was a big difference in my walks from the first week after the surgery to the last week before I went back to the US. Right now, I am able to walk much more comfortably.” said our patient.
Why Is It Recommended to Have Height Reduction Surgery from the Femur?
We would like to add some more information about height reduction surgery. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yunus Öç prefers to do the surgery from the femur only since there is a higher risk of nerve damage if it is done from the tibia. Furthermore, it is essential that the patient has thin legs before having the surgery. Our doctor recommended this to our American patient before her surgery as well. The reason for this is that the muscles and the veins will pile up after the surgery so the thinner the legs are, the easier it will be for muscles and veins to get back to their normal shapes.
During the operation, our doctor makes his final decision of how much he is going to cut taking the things that we mentioned above into consideration. The amount of cm that is going to be shortened is approximately decided with the tests and examinations before the surgery but there might be some small changes during the surgery because even the 2mm difference can be of great importance for the patient’s long-term health.
In the first 1-2 months after the surgery, it is highly important for the patient to get an intense physiotherapy program for them to walk healthily. For this reason, our doctor recommends patients to stay for 1 month after the surgery, as we have said before. Like the muscle imbalance, there is a risk of embolism as well after the surgery and if it happens during this 1-month recovery process, the complications will be treated easily.
You can view the bone that was cut through our patient's leg.
It is exactly 4.9 cm.
Height Change of Our Patient
You can view the height change of our patient, before and after her surgery
Her pre-surgery height was 173 cm and her post-surgery height is 168.1 cm. We wish her a healthy and happy life with her new height.
