Several thick steel pins are inserted into the leg bone. Then, the healthy tibia is cut. Again, thick steel pins are inserted into the cut tibia and connected to an external fixator. Now, you have to wear this fixator for at least three months and wait for your height to increase. <녹취> K Orthopedic Clinic Coordinator: "Even if you're the same 160cm, if your calves look longer, it has the effect of making you look taller." However, there are patients who still cannot walk a year after the surgery. <녹취> Mr. Jang (Height Increase Surgery Patient): "Even if there was only a 1% chance I couldn't walk, I wouldn't have had this surgery." <녹취> Height Increase Surgery Patient (Housewife): "For this surgery, the doctor should definitely talk about the aftereffects first." Recently, more and more young people are undergoing this risky surgery. It's called 'height increase surgery.' Hundreds of young people choose this surgery every year, enduring the pain of cutting their bones. The surgery costs tens of millions of won. If it goes well, you can grow up to 6 centimeters taller and regain lost confidence. The problem is... this surgery is extremely dangerous. This is an orthopedic clinic in Seoul that is widely known for limb lengthening surgery, also known as 'height increase surgery.' <녹취> Mr. Jung ('Height Increase Surgery' Patient/Voice Altered): "For this surgery, the doctor should definitely talk about the aftereffects first." <녹취> Patient Guardian: "They are good at kids' height increase surgery here, leg surgery. They see it on the internet and come here for leg surgery. From the provinces..." In the ward, young people who have undergone surgery a few days ago are carefully practicing walking. <녹취> "I walked straight a little while ago, definitely." Everyone has an external fixator called 'Ilizarov' on their legs. Limb lengthening surgery, also known as height increase surgery, first cuts the tibia or femur and then inserts thick steel pins into the bone to fix it. An external fixator is attached outside the leg and connected to the leg bone. Starting a week after the surgery, the external fixator is gradually increased to make the bones grow. The reporter received a surgical consultation at this hospital. <녹취> K Orthopedic Clinic Coordinator: "Seo In-young (singer) has a pretty (leg) ratio even though she is short, so she is pretty. There is an absolute height, but the ratio is actually important. (The increased height) is only about 5-6cm, but others perceive it as more than 10cm." <녹취> "What is certain is that everyone is satisfied. No one says they shouldn't have done it." The surgery costs more than 20 million won. <녹취> "18.5 million won (including the 2nd and 3rd removal surgeries) 24.5 million won. This is only the surgery cost..." I asked if there were any side effects from the surgery. <녹취> "The pin (implanted in the bone) breaks, you get equinus foot, the nerves are damaged, or bone callus doesn't form... (Side effects) you can see it all as this." Housewife Mrs. Jung. Mrs. Jung, who was not even 150cm tall, underwent height increase surgery at an orthopedic clinic in Seoul in April last year. <녹취> Mrs. Jung: "I went to the hospital because of my bowed legs. Bowed legs don't look pretty when you wear heels. So I went to wear heels, but they recommended that I have height surgery together if I was going to do it anyway, they recommend the surgery." So, the height increase surgery I received... But it's been a year and a half since the surgery, and I still can't walk without crutches. <녹취> "Because the bones don't grow well, but if you go there (hospital), they never say that. The hospital never says your bones don't grow well, they just keep telling you to exercise." Mrs. Jung's X-ray photo. The cut tibia still has a gap. Because the bones didn't grow, I had to walk relying on steel pins, and then in February, the steel pin implanted in my leg suddenly broke. <녹취> "They (the hospital) said that they tested all the steel (steel pin) and it wouldn't break even if they hit it with a hammer, so don't worry..." Eventually, I reinserted the steel pin and reattached the external fixator. In the process, Mrs. Jung belatedly learned that two large screws were embedded in her ankle. <녹취> "I really did my best for this patient. I will continue to do my best in the future." <녹취> "When I asked what the nail was in my ankle, he told me. The anklebone was broken and the ankle was actually broken when I had surgery. He said he had a hard time putting in the screws." <녹취> "(At another hospital) in this state, it's dead bone callus. (The bone) has no chance of growing. Even if I have another surgery, I will become disabled in the future. I can't use my ankle. I have to limp." In response, the hospital said that it was not recommended that Mrs. Jung have surgery, but that Mrs. Jung wanted the surgery, and that she was informed in advance that the steel pin could break. <녹취> Y Orthopedic Clinic Director: "Every time you come, I tell you the percentage of how much bone has grown. I said everything I had to say to the patient." <녹취> "I really did my best for this patient, and I will continue to do my best in the future." Mr. Kim, who was a health club trainer. Mr. Kim, who was 174cm tall, underwent so-called 'height increase surgery' three years ago because he wanted to become a trainer with better conditions. <녹취> Mr. Kim "(How many centimeters did you grow?) 8cm. I didn't do it for cosmetic reasons, I didn't have a complex, and I said I would do it for exercise, but they said that it would be okay to do 5-6cm." The 8 centimeters that is said to have grown is not because the bones grew and the height increased. In Mr. Kim's case, the bones did not grow well even after two years of surgery, and eventually, relying on steel pins on both legs caused inflammation and necrosis in his hip joint and muscles. <녹취> "The bone is sticking out here. (That's right, it's sticking out.) The bone is sticking out a lot." <녹취> "The thigh muscles are completely gone. This side (left foot) feels hard when I walk, and this side (right foot) feels like I'm walking on a sofa. This side just collapses." Mr. Kim, who has undergone revision surgery, is now placing his last hope on a third surgery. <녹취> "I definitely can't go back to normal. They say that the athletic ability itself is almost recovered. I've been watching it for 4 years and I know what kind of surgery it is..." Originally, height increase surgery was developed for patients with dwarfism who are extremely short or patients who have shortened limbs due to deformities or accidents. <녹취> Song Hae-ryong (Professor, Department of Orthopedics, Korea University Guro Hospital): "The ankle is bent like this, we correct that. Because the foot doesn't touch the ground. Ilizarov (Professor) developed this technology to treat this." At this university hospital, there are a lot of patients who complain of side effects after undergoing so-called 'height increase surgery' at private orthopedic clinics. A man in his 20s whose bones did not grow after surgery, a housewife in her 30s whose left leg became 2cm longer, and a woman in her 20s whose toes were paralyzed due to muscle necrosis. <녹취> "You can think of it as double jaw surgery on the legs." Specialists say that side effects are inevitable in limb lengthening surgery, also known as height increase surgery. <인터뷰> "It takes 6 months to grow 6-7cm, but there are cases where bones don't grow for 6 months. This is the most worrying complication. The second is osteomyelitis. Inflammation occurs inside the bone and can destroy all the new bones that have come out." It is analyzed that the rapidly increasing number of risky, so-called height increase surgeries is partly due to the wrong atmosphere in our society that people with short heights are likely to be disadvantaged. Mr. Jang, 39, who underwent so-called height increase surgery last September. Still difficult to walk without crutches. I also quit my business that I had been doing for 10 years. I had to have revision surgery twice because it became difficult to move. The bones are still not growing well. I went to another hospital hoping that something would happen. <인터뷰> Jung Cheol-hee (Orthopedic Specialist): "If it is expected that there will be no further bone formation, autologous bone graft surgery, in which bone is harvested from the patient's pelvis and transplanted, is necessary." However, Mr. Jang does not regret having surgery. Because outwardly, his height has increased by 6cm. <인터뷰> Mr. Jang: "If I can just finish it, I won't have any regrets. If I just get taller, I want to solve it no matter how much money I pay or what price I pay..." I believe that marriage will be easier. <인터뷰> "(Are you sure that if you have this surgery, it will be easier to meet people and get married?) Yes. That's right. I don't want to be restricted in meeting people. It means that height is a restriction when meeting the opposite sex." A general hospital in Gyeonggi-do. Today's surgery patient is 159 centimeters tall. A 24-year-old male college student. <인터뷰> Lee Dong-hoon (Professor, Department of Orthopedics, Bundang CHA Hospital): "Friends who are stressed out here can't get out of here. Some even say, 'Please do your best to operate on me, even if I become disabled.'" Professor Lee Dong-hoon. Professor Lee says that he only performs surgery on young people who have difficulty with interpersonal relationships due to their short height. He warns that it is a very dangerous choice if the decision is only for appearance. <인터뷰> "Some people ask, 'Would you let your family have surgery?' I say I wouldn't let my family do it. Instead, if the stress is so severe that it interferes with social life, work life, and interpersonal relationships..." <인터뷰> "This surgery is a surgery that can destroy a patient's life if it goes wrong. Therefore, the doctor must be very professional and very conscientious..." So-called 'height increase surgery' has recently emerged as a major social problem in China as well. It is time for our medical community and health authorities to check how much of this height increase surgery is being performed and how many side effects there are. 'I wish I was even a few centimeters taller...' A desperate hope... Our society's prejudice against height is putting 'short' young people on the dangerous operating table today.

Cover Report K Reporter Kim Won

[Source]

KBS 1TV [Cover Report K] Height Increase Surgery “Trap of 6cm” Aug 30, 2013 Ilizarov surgery "trap of 6cm" KBS 1TV [cover report K] Aug 30, 2013

Link : http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/NewsView.do?SEARCH_NEWS_CODE=2716232&ref=A

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