Overview
- Surgeons reconstructed a 50 mm bone defect and corrected a 30 mm leg-length discrepancy in a 64-year-old former police officer injured by a 2018 gunshot.
- The fully internal system enables bone transport and subsequent lengthening without external frames, improving comfort, reducing complication risks, and shortening recovery.
- Tygerberg’s unit was selected as one of only a few centres worldwide to use the technique during its limited market release, according to Professor Nando Ferreira.
- New bone is expected to form over roughly 100 days followed by several months of consolidation, with the patient now entering the early regenerative phase.
- Hospital and provincial leaders say the capability strengthens public-sector orthopaedics and could benefit children with congenital limb differences and older adults with complex fractures.