MECHANICAL RETARDATION OF BONE GROWTH

¹ Surgical Laboratory, Stanford Medical School, San Francisco

Wire or staples, applied unilaterally across the epiphyseal cartilaginous plate, will arrest length growth on the side of insertion. There will also be restriction of growth on the opposite side to a lesser degree, but sufficient to cause a loss in length growth of the bone.

It, is inadvisable to try to compensate for a growth deformity, due to a destructive injury to the plate on one side, by the insertion of a staple or wire on the opposite side of the plate.

If the deformity was caused by factors outside of the plate, it may be corrected by unilateral wires or staples, but loss in length of the bone may occur.

It is difficult to determine definitely whether or not growth is as active after temporary retardation by a wire or staples. It was not so active as on the normal side, but it is possible that injury to the circulation and trauma to the plate disturbed the growth. There was evidence of a premature closure of the plate in some of the experiments.

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