Do internal rods fit smaller people? Or do they have to settle for externals.

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Hello,
   I am a 4’8” (144cm) girl who is planning to get two limb lengthening surgeries (one in the femurs first, and later on in the Tibias). One of my biggest concerns is the fact that I’m soooo small. Meaning that my bones are smaller in length (not so sure if I’m width too). But my problem is that I have always only considered the internal Precice or Stryde methods, mainly because they are less painful, the recovery seems to be more efficient, and there is minimal scarring compared to the external method. Now I am worried that because of my size; the rods will not be able to fit my femurs or tibias and my worst nightmare of the externals will come true. Can anyone speak out about this? Would the rods not fit because the width of my bones is too small or the length is too short? Has anyone close to my height done this surgery with the internals?

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Thank you!

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Quote from: ShortLivesMatter on April 11, 2019, 10:30:09 PMIt mainly depends on your bone width. The internal rods are not long so length should not be an issue even with your height. The smallest Precise nail is 8.5mm and the smallest Stryde nail is 10mm.  I am taking a guess but I would say that the 8.5mm Precise nail would fit in your femur, if you are lucky and big boned for your size your femur might be able to handle the 10mm Stryde. As for your tibia, I doubt the Stryde nail can fit, the 8.5mm Precise might be able to.

Thank you so much for your reply @shortlivesmatter! This information and measurements of the rods were really helpful! I am going to try to find a way to know what the size of my femurs and tibias are. I am eventually going to have a consultation with Dr. Mahboubian (which is the doctor I am planning to do the surgery with), but in the meantime it’s killing me to know the size of my bones. I just reallly don’t want to have to go for the external method. I’m terrified of the pain and scarring of the external method.

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Quote from: Ghostfish on April 11, 2019, 11:50:15 PMHi naimah99
I mostly agree with SLM.  But I saw a girl who did quadrilateral lengthening with Stryde in Paley institute who is about your size.  She was doing great.  I am sure your femurs can take 10 mm Stryde nails.  If you can't take Stryde nails for tibias, then you can use Precice.  However, Precice is not full weight bearing, meaning that you can't do quadrilateral ll with Stryde for femurs and Precice for tibias because there is no point of it.  If you plan to do CLL one by one like femurs first and tibias next about one year later, you can have different nails.

Have a consultation with Drs.  You should have some options for CLL.  So don't worry.

Thank you so much for your reply @Ghostfish. Very useful information! I am glad to know that someone my size has used the internal rods. And you are correct about the fact that if I’m going to be doing the stryde on the femur and precice on the tibia there’s really no point, but I have heard that with the stryde method you can heal faster, so maybe if I do it this way my femur will heal faster even though I wouldn’t be able to walk due to the tibia rod. I am thinking to get the tibia surgery a few months after my femur surgery. Anyway, I really hope you’re right and that even just the precice will fit into my femurs at least. I’d hate to have to go through the external method and ensure that pain when there are better methods already available. I will definitely consult with the surgeon once I’m ready. What do you think about Dr. Mahboubian as a surgeon? I know this has nothing to do with the topic but just a question. You all seem to be much more experienced.