{"title":"Consent in Limb Lengthening Surgery: Predicting the True Incidence of Material Risk.","authors":"Sonia Makvana, A Robertson, S Britten, P Calder","doi":"10.5005/jp-journals-10080-1616","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>The consent process involves supported decision-making between the surgeon and the patient. Both potential benefits and material risks of the procedure require explanation, with adequate time for reflection. The complexity of limb reconstruction surgery includes the potential for multiple types of complications. In an attempt to delineate the material risks in lower limb lengthening, a literature review was undertaken to ascertain the published rates of complications.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>A review of articles from 2003 to 2023 via PubMed and Google Scholar, including keywords 'lengthening', 'tibia', 'lengthening nail' and 'external fixator' was undertaken. Studies with a minimum of 20 patients, undergoing lengthening of the femur, tibia, or both by an external fixator and/or an intramedullary lengthening nail were included for analysis. Complications were reported according to Paley's problems, obstacles, and complications.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Twenty-two papers met the inclusion criteria. The commonest complications listed following lengthening using an external fixator were pin site infections (52% in the femur and 18.8% in the tibia), delayed consolidation (8.3%), bone re-fracture (13%), and joint stiffness (18.8%). Following femoral lengthening using the intramedullary lengthening nails reported complication rates were lower, including implant issues (8%) and delayed consolidation (6%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Patients require a full understanding of both benefits and potential harms when undergoing any surgical intervention. Our study has identified the published rates of complications following lower limb lengthening. These figures can be used to guide the consultation and enable surgeons to audit their own surgical results against the published literature.</p><p><strong>How to cite this article: </strong>Makvana S, Robertson A, Britten S, <i>et al.</i> Consent in Limb Lengthening Surgery: Predicting the True Incidence of Material Risk. Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr 2024;19(2):61-66.</p>","PeriodicalId":21979,"journal":{"name":"Strategies in Trauma and Limb Reconstruction","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11443609/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Strategies in Trauma and Limb Reconstruction","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10080-1616","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/8/14 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ORTHOPEDICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aim: The consent process involves supported decision-making between the surgeon and the patient. Both potential benefits and material risks of the procedure require explanation, with adequate time for reflection. The complexity of limb reconstruction surgery includes the potential for multiple types of complications. In an attempt to delineate the material risks in lower limb lengthening, a literature review was undertaken to ascertain the published rates of complications.
Materials and methods: A review of articles from 2003 to 2023 via PubMed and Google Scholar, including keywords 'lengthening', 'tibia', 'lengthening nail' and 'external fixator' was undertaken. Studies with a minimum of 20 patients, undergoing lengthening of the femur, tibia, or both by an external fixator and/or an intramedullary lengthening nail were included for analysis. Complications were reported according to Paley's problems, obstacles, and complications.
Results: Twenty-two papers met the inclusion criteria. The commonest complications listed following lengthening using an external fixator were pin site infections (52% in the femur and 18.8% in the tibia), delayed consolidation (8.3%), bone re-fracture (13%), and joint stiffness (18.8%). Following femoral lengthening using the intramedullary lengthening nails reported complication rates were lower, including implant issues (8%) and delayed consolidation (6%).
Conclusion: Patients require a full understanding of both benefits and potential harms when undergoing any surgical intervention. Our study has identified the published rates of complications following lower limb lengthening. These figures can be used to guide the consultation and enable surgeons to audit their own surgical results against the published literature.
How to cite this article: Makvana S, Robertson A, Britten S, et al. Consent in Limb Lengthening Surgery: Predicting the True Incidence of Material Risk. Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr 2024;19(2):61-66.
期刊介绍:
Strategies in Trauma and Limb Reconstruction is dedicated to surgeons, allied medical professionals and researchers in the field of orthopaedics and trauma. The scope of the journal is to discuss the fields of skeletal injury, and the complications thereof, congenital and acquired limb deformities and deficiencies, and orthopaedic-related infection, together with their surgical and non-surgical treatments. The journal publishes original articles, reviews, case reports, descriptions of new or recognised treatment techniques, forum discussions of clinical scenarios and relevant correspondence. It aims to provide a widely accessible source of useful information to practitioners in the field through the problem- or technique-based approach of published articles.