Slow Down

A child may have one leg shorter than the other because of injury, disease, or accident of growth. Whatever the cause, the cure has puzzled surgeons. They have tried various methods of evening up the legs--from shortening the long leg to lengthening the short one. Recently doctors have been trying to slow, without entirely stopping, the growth of the longer leg. But the timing is tricky and the methods have been clumsy.

One day last week, Milwaukee's Dr. Walter P. Blount told the 16th annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons about a new method of treating lame children. Shy, intense Dr. Blount, 48, was the hit of the convention. So many doctors were jotting down notes that the crowded green and gold grand ballroom of Chicago's Palmer House looked like a classroom. Dr. Blount's method: using stainless steel staples with 3/4 inch prongs to retard growth of the longer leg.

In a minor operation, the staples are driven into the long bones of the leg above and below the knee, near the joint, where the bone grows longer. There is no need to try to figure out the exact time when the child's growth will end, Dr. Blount explained. The staples do not keep the leg from growing, but they slow the process. When the short leg has caught up, and the child walks without a limp, the staples are taken out, and both legs can grow at once. The staples may be kept in place as long as two years.

The Blount technique can also be used for treating other deformities. In knock-knees, the staples are put on the inside of the bone near the knee; in bowlegs, on the outside. So far, Dr. Blount has used his stapling treatment on 57 patients. For 13, the treatment has ended successfully with removal of the staples.

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