When Kolkata teenager Vinod Gupta landed in Mumbai on Tuesday, there was a noticeable difference from his visit in August. His legs, which were of uneven length since birth, are now proportionate.
Vinod (name changed) underwent a limb lengthening operation that many teenagers undergo to correct a deformity, fracture or to increase their height. But what makes the 16-year-old’s story different is that he got a titanium implant instead of an external one to correct his right limb’s length by 11 cm.
The older alternative, an external device (see box), would have required screws and rods to project out his leg. “My son would have not had an easy time moving about or doing his physiotherapy. The implant cannot be seen and is painless,” said his father Rohit Gupta.
The only problem, as his father pointed out, was the cost. Each rod costs over Rs 5 lakh. “As we needed two rods, I had to take money from relatives and my office,” said Rohit.
“Vinod had two rods, one for his tibia and another for his femur, that had been elongated over eight sessions daily,” said his mother Sunita.
The operation was done by pediatric orthopaedic surgeon Dr Ashok Johari at Surya Pediatric Hospital in Santacruz on August 6. “The magnetic limb lengthening rod is relatively in India. I use it to correct curved spines, but this is the first time it has been used for limb lengthening,” said Dr Johari, who has used the implant for eight children with spine problems.