Safety and efficacy of distraction osteogenesis for height dysphoria

Title : Safety and efficacy of distraction osteogenesis for height dysphoria

Abstract:

Distraction osteogenesis for stature increase treatment really pushes patients, treating teams and implants to their limits.This is because distraction osteogenesis for stature increase is done simultaneously bilaterally, and involves longer lengthening compared to its other clinical applications. Patient’s personality traits like symptoms of depression, anxiety and obsession, can hinder the patient’s compliance during the course treatment as well as their ability to realistically appreciate the clinical outcome. These symptoms are all part of the condition of height dysphoria, which is part of the spectrum of Body Dysmorphic Disorders (BDD).

In addition to the above, stature increase is marketed and advertised heavily as a cosmetic procedure and this type of marketing often creates false or non-realistic expectations.
For these reasons, in our opinion, success and failure of distraction osteogenesis in stature increase treatments should be measured with different standards than its other clinical applications.

In this study, we present the most common modes of failure and dissatisfaction of distraction osteogenesis in stature increase treatments , and how the efficacy should be measured with regard to the improvement of BDD symptoms, restoration of normal limb function and subjective patient satisfaction.

Biography:

Dr Dimitrios Giotikas is the founder and Clinical director of Giotikas Clinic in London, UK  and Athens, Greece. His clinical expertise is focused on limb reconstruction (including limb lengthening, the management of bone infections and limb deformities), knee osteotomy surgery for arthritis and complex orthopaedic trauma. Dimitrios started his career as medical officer of the Greek Army. He later worked as specialist and consultant in Cambridge and Oxford University hospitals in the UK, where he specialized in limb reconstruction. He has a PhD on knee surgery and has published and presented numerous studies in the fields of his clinical expertise.