SA’s first internal limb-lengthening done at Tygerberg

File Image: Delicate operations at the Tygerberg hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, July 15, 2022.

Tygerberg Hospital in the Western Cape, in partnership with Stellenbosch University, has performed South Africa’s first fully internal “bone transport and limb-lengthening” reconstruction.

A 64-year-old patient, who had lived with chronic pain and a leg-length difference following a 2018 gunshot injury, had a bone defect reconstructed and the discrepancy corrected. Head of Stellenbosch University’s Clinical Unit for Tumour, Sepsis and Reconstruction, Professor Nando Ferreira says it gives patients a real second chance at normal function.

“This significantly improves patient comfort, reduces complications, and offers superior long-term functional recovery. This case also reflects the advanced reconstructive expertise we have built within the South African public sector. Over many years, Tygerberg Hospital and Stellenbosch University have developed a limb reconstruction unit capable of delivering procedures performed by only a small number of centres worldwide.”