Abstract
A case is reported of an 18-year-old man with a post-traumatic radial shortening of about 10 cm with 40° of radial deviation as a consequence of an epiphyseal arrest that occurred when the patient was 8 years old. In the past the patient and his parents had refused all corrective treatment which would result in a permanent shortening; then a treatment by the Ilizarov external fixator was proposed. The forearm assembly was made by two fixed rings (one proximal and one medial) and one hinged distal ring. A closed corticotomy was performed parallel to the distal ring, whose fulcrum was at the ulnar styloid. Correction and lengthening were obtained by elongating two opposite threaded bars about 0.5 mm per day. Minor revisions were made on an out-patient basis. Time of correction and lengthening was 113 days, followed by 70 days in the fixator and a further 44 days of plaster cast after fixator removal. The complete correction of deformity and concurrent lengthening showed that Ilizarov‘s method is a definite but very demanding option in the treatment of severe deformities of the upper limb.
