Guided growth: indications and techniques for correction of knock knees and bowlegs

Abstract

Purpose of review: Lower extremities axis alterations are a frequent cause for consultation in the medical practice of the care of paediatric patients. When it corresponds to pathological situations, guided growth surgery has been positioned as a possibility of well tolerated, reproducible and predictable resolution. For this reason, its use has increased significantly in recent years. In this review, its current indications, preoperative study, results and complications described in the updated literature will be discussed.

Recent findings: The success of the technique remains high in the current literature, expanding the technique to other segments and disorders, and describing new ways of performing tension band with sutures. In addition, there is an increase in its incidence and a decrease in the associated hospitalized days, which can associate with techniques of lower morbidity.

Summary: As guided growth surgery allows for successful correction of axis alterations, to achieve this, it is important to know the main indications, preoperative analysis and theoretical bases on which this technique is based, to carry it out in an adequate and timely manner, seeking an adequate resolution of the child's problem.