A local man now facing paralysis is bringing back to light the dangers of “limb lengthening” surgery. With the practice driven underground in China, those dreaming of being taller headed abroad for the complicated procedure that left many with not height, but regret.
On Wednesday, 23 September, it was reported that the chief orthopedic physician of the Second People’s Hospital of Huai’an City in our very own Jiangsu Province said that a serious infection had occurred in the case of a 22-year old local man who had travelled abroad seeking to be a few centimeters taller.
Technically known as osteotomy, limb-lengthening treatment can cost as much as ¥500,000 and often takes several years, with the patient undergoing several operations. As such, there is an increased risk of infection and thrombosis. The serious condition of this particular case means the young man is likely looking at lifelong disability.
The unnamed man in Huai’an had had concerns over his height for a long time and wished to be 1.8 metres tall, said Chief Orthopedist, Dr. Wang Lei, reports the UK’s Daily Mail.
That same publication also goes on to say that the practice of limb lengthening was banned in China in 2006. The true picture is a little more complicated.
On 10 October of that year, the former Ministry of Health (now the National Health Commission) issued a notice to regulate the management of osteotomy, placing it in the same category as gene therapy. Accordingly, experts from Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine have also stated that such operations are forbidden to be performed on healthy people in China, reports The Paper.
In related news, here in Nanjing, a woman has found herself in intensive care after having plastic surgery at the city’s Nanjing Yueyan Beauty Hospital.
Complications arising from a ¥200,000 treatment led to the woman developing a life-threatening heart condition. The woman’s family accuse the hospital of being unwilling to take responsibility, while Yueyan responded that it shall bear a share of the medical expenses based on the results of diagnosis, reported The Paper yesterday.
For many years now have the Chinese taken extreme measures in the name of perceived, stereotypical beauty. Previously very common was plastic surgery to create double eyelids, then all manner of treatments to achieve whiter skin. Both obsessed over by many a Chinese woman, limb lengthening saw the men getting in on the act.
The fashion for osteotomy began in China when minimum heights began being specified in job advertisements and personals seeking the ideal suitor. In this case, however, a few centimeters gained today has resulted in the loss of many a kilometre walked tomorrow.
