2024 Children's of Alabama/UAB Annual Report

“ “Essentially what you’re doing is dividing a bone and stretching it apart and then watching it fill in with new bone in the gap.”

About 140 young patients are enrolled in Children’s Limb Deficiency Clinic, which joins specialists from orthopedics and rehabilitation medicine to serve patients with amputations and other limb deformities. “Some children have milder angular deformities (such as knock knees or bowlegs) that might not create a big functional deficit but might be pretty noticeable,” Gilbert said. “Many parents report their children are teased or bullied on account of that. If their issue is bigger, they may need assistive devices, prostheses, or even be unable to walk and need a wheelchair.” Surgical correction is the approach for 30–50 patients at Children’s each year, most of whom have limb deformities. Many patients are referred from other institutions across the state because of Children’s of Alabama’s reputation.

Shawn Gilbert, M.D.

Gilbert, who has held leadership positions in state and national orthopedic organizations, recently spoke in China at a global conference focused on trauma repair, limb deformity correction, limb lengthening and limb reconstruction. “That’s one of the ways we’re recognized for our expertise in this area,” he said. Now performing more pediatric limb reconstructions than anyone else in Alabama, Children’s orthopedic surgeons would next like to examine how patient outcomes might be harmed by inequities in access to care. Since limb deformity treatments—especially lengthening procedures—involve a great many medical visits over a longer period of time, “there’s a big burden of care on the families, and having the resources to help with that is really important,” Gilbert said.

2024 Academic Annual Report

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