Lower limb equalization with percutaneus epiphysiodesis of the knee joint area.

INTRODUCTION Epiphysiodesis has become one of the most popular methods in the treatment of leg length discrepancy (LLD) due to its surgical simplicity, short hospitalization time, and a low risk of complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed on 34 patients treated for LDD with percutaneus epiphisiodesis of the distal femur and/or the proximal tibia. The mean discrepancy was 2.8 cm. The outcome evaluation method was based on Kemnitz et al. RESULTS Based on the Kemnitz criteria, 23 (67.6%) patients experienced good results, while 2 (5.9%) satisfactory and 9 (26.5%) poor results. In 47% of patients, swellings of the knee joint were observed in the postoperative period. One serious complication - varus deformity of 10 degrees in femur occurred in the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS Percutaneous epiphysiodesis is a simple method of the LLD correction, with a low rate of complications and applicable in cases of late LDD diagnosis.