Lengthening of a below knee amputation stump with Ilizarov technique in a patient with a mangled leg.

ABSTRACT

A below knee amputation (BKA) requires sufficient stump length for the fitting of a modern prosthesis. In cases of trauma where the levels of injury are unpredictable, achieving sufficient stump length can be a challenge. We described a case report of using the Ilizarov technique for bone lengthening at the residual BKA stump for a patient who sustained a mangled limb following a road traffic accident. Using this technique, we have successfully lengthened the tibial stump adequately for a functioning prosthesis. As shown in this case, we believe that this technique could attain an excellent outcome for a selected group of patients with short residual BKA stump.