Fitbone

Wanna walk tall? If Mother Nature has failed to give you that statuesque figure, worry not. Fitbone surgery, an advanced and high-tech option for leg lengthening, promises to add those crucial inches. This is a relatively-new surgical procedure for lengthening bones and skeletal deformities. It involves a fully-implantable, electronically-motorised, limb-lengthening device. The average length a limb can be elongated is between 5-9 cm. Of course, it comes at a painful price. The procedure is being done in Singapore, Bangkok, Malaysia and the Philippines.

This surgery is also done on those with injuries, congenital defects and certain kinds of dwarfism. It's rarely done on kids under 16 due to risk of damage on growth plates. Fitbone surgery is an advancement over the older Ilazarov surgery where the patient's leg is fitted with a frame that pierces the skin, muscles and bone. Screws attached to the bone are turned 1 mm per day. After the growth gap is closed, patients have to wear the frame till the new bone solidifies. Beware, there's risk of infection.

Fitbone surgery, on the other hand, involves cutting the bone and implanting a metal telescopic nail containing a motor. This expands lengthwise about 1 mm a day as the bone grows around the expanding rod. It's powered and controlled by radio signals from outside. After being lengthened, the bone is allowed to solidify. Surgery takes 3-4 hours and the patient has to remain in hospital for about a week. It could take some nine months for the patient to walk again. The rod is removed after two years.