External Tibial Torsion Correction

[MightyMom]

I know there is a fancy medically correct word in relation to this procedure .... but it's not coming to me now. (I am almost 100% sure it starts with the letter "O")

Anyway... my DS has tibial torsion in both legs, but significantly more so in his left leg. If the degree of rotation means anything to you, his left leg is at 30 while his right leg is at 12.

Does anyone have experience with this procedure? I'm curious to hear personal experiences to help us make a decision on how to approach it and whether or not to move forward and have him undergo yet another surgery.

Thanks.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a webpage from Boston Children's Hospital about tibial torsion and here's another page from the same site about gait abnormalities.
I know in many cases, tibial tortion is outgrown without need for surgery; other than that, I don't have much information.
I am quite certain that the 'O' words you are thinking of is osteotomy, which just means cutting a bone to remove part of it.

From my DD's experiences with Orthopedic Surgeons over the years, I would give the advice to talk to your child's other doctors and OT/PT. If we had only listened to the Ortho, DD would have had at least 6 surgeries over the years instead of the one she has had. We were told by an Ortho about 10 yrs ago that if we did not have surgery to stabilize DD's feet, she would have such mishapen feet that she would not be able to wear shoes by the time she was 14. She's 22, no surgery and still wearing shoes.
Ortho Surgeons in general are 'people of action' and tend to want to do surgery to fix things. If you do decide to go ahead with it, I'd also suggest talking about what would happen if they over-correct or under-correct. Sometimes surgery has a very big judgement component to it. Knowing how far to go is part of the art of medicine.

 

[JacksMom05]

I just found this web site today. My son had bilateral internal tibial osteotomy done on April 23 at Shriners hospital to correct severe out-toeing. We are still in casts and have 3 more weeks to go. I would love to talk to you sometime about your experiences too. As of yet we do not have a diagnosis for our son. We are waiting for the outcome of this surgery to see if surgery on his femur bones will be needed also.