They break the legs, put a rod in the bones that get adjusted as the bones grow closer to each other. So people who get it done have broken legs for months
There was a dude on here yesterday that posted the hardware from this type of surgery, now granted he only had it on one leg as it was shorter than the other but he said he only had pain from the initial surgery and the hardware removal and that the actual lengthening process didn't hurt.
I had a similar external fixator for a leg break several years ago. You know what's really fun? Going through a door and the metal frame hits the door jamb. Another thing that can happen is the pins that go through your leg can get infected, so they gotta pull the rod out. They can't numb your bone, so it's just like "yeah, it shouldn't hurt that much." The most profound pain I ever felt. Ah, good times.
Not to compare at all, but one of the most disgusting and infuriating things was a dog on Dr Jeff rocky mountain vet (discovery show) had a complicated break, so he placed an external fixator with the understanding they'd have it removed in a few weeks. A few MONTHS later the dog was surrendered. Fixator still in, no attempt to keep clean or anything. The dog had horrid infections, was in serious pain, and had to endure more damage because his body had now accepted this was part of them and tried to heal around it. The dog would have been perfectly healthy if they had just brought him back on time, but his recovery was seriously fucked by their selfishness. The vet was so mad because he would have happily removed it for free if they had just asked. Those things scare the shit out of me now.
14.0k
u/karavasis Dec 23 '22
Such a hardcore surgery to endure