Leg Lengthening Podcast Episode 15: Interview with Kenzie

Kenzie is not a “typical” limb lengthening patient but she did who faced several complications and her story is one that can give any patient considering limb lengthening insight...   Her story is summarized below:   • Freshman year in High School broke right Femur from soccer (2014)  • Got a full leg cast at John's Hopkins to heal the "clean break"  • Continued playing soccer after it healed • Femur grew crooked due to arrest of a portion of her growth plate   • Referred to Dr. John Herzenberg after 5 doctors couldn’t figure it out  • Got a Distal Femoral Osteotomy in Sept. 2018 secured with metal plate  • Next month got an infection in Oct. 2018  • In Nov. 2018 Dr. Assayag took over because Herzenberg had foot injury  • Screws broke at top above the break site.  • Bone stimulator to help w/ non-union - no luck!  • Had plate removed and replace with an internal non-lengthening nail.  • Saw Dr. Conway b/c of an infection – rare for a healthy young girl.  • Jan 2019 – the trauma nail had bent – again very rare  • Got a bone graft but body absorbed the bony matrix  • August 2019 – Had the internal PRECICE-STRYDE nail but had it used for retrograde shortening at about 0.7mm/day to help the compressive stress force to stimulate bone formation of the non-union  • Dr. Assayag consulted with his mentor Dr. Rozbruch in NY at HSS to bounce ideas – signature of any great surgeon to collaborate.  •Another bone graft + Stryde nail compression to help non-union heal.  • March 2020 another surgery as a screw was poking into her muscle.  • Currently as of November 2020 completely pain free and is super grateful for the team at ICLL Sinai Hospital as they never gave up on her and she never doubted them.   •She had to go through 4 surgeries to correct a super rare-occurrence but was fortunate the advanced orthopedics at Sinai and her determination to never give up paid off in having her leg back and planning to have her nail removed sometime soon.