Turning An Ankle Into A 'Knee'

1
Turning An Ankle Into A 'Knee'

• Patient was a five-year-old girl with Ewing's
  sarcoma, a cancerous tumor, behind her left knee.
  Surgeons at The Children's Hospital of
  Philadelphia used a limb-sparing technique called
  rotationplasty to remove the diseased portion of
  bone, turn the shortened portion of the leg bone
  in a half-circle and reattach it, with the ankle
  joint functioning as a knee.
• With a prosthetic attached to the mobile joint,
  the child, now 13, enjoys gymnastics and
  cheerleading.

2
Turning An Ankle Into A 'Knee'
Video of the 13-year-old patient, walking with a
normal gait, can be viewed here
http//content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/351/8/e7