Post-Traumatic Deformity Correction

When fractures heal crooked or joints are damaged by old injuries, the limb can become bent, rotated, shortened or stiff. Beyond appearance, deformity overloads joints, causes progressive arthritis, and changes the way you walk — affecting knees, hips and spine over time.

Deformity correction is precise, planned surgery: restoring the limb's mechanical axis through osteotomies, correcting length differences with limb-lengthening techniques, and addressing bow-legs and other alignment problems so the limb works the way it was designed to.

• A limb that is visibly bent, bowed or rotated after an old injury
• One leg shorter than the other, causing a limp
• Progressive joint pain on one side of the knee or ankle
• Shoes wearing out unevenly
• Reduced walking distance or stamina

Long-length standing X-rays of both legs measure the mechanical axis and the exact degree and location of deformity. CT scans assess rotation. This precise planning determines exactly where and how much to correct.

Correction uses an osteotomy — a planned surgical cut in the bone — to realign the limb, fixed with plates or specialised frames. Limb lengthening uses gradually adjustable devices that grow new bone millimetre by millimetre. Bow-leg correction (high tibial osteotomy) can offload a worn knee and delay or avoid replacement.

Alignment correction heals over 8–12 weeks; lengthening takes longer, with physiotherapy throughout to keep joints supple and muscles strong. The result — a straight, level limb — is permanent and life-changing for most patients.