"I've been getting more inquiries than in the past, and I think that's because there are more people who have gotten the procedure done at this point and those people, a lot of them have told their stories on social media," said Dr. Reif.

While the risks and technology have improved, doctors say there are some things to consider.

"There's really not a ton of risk in the surgery. Everything is done through small incisions. The amount of bleeding is very manageable. I think people are really worried about pain, but I think most people are surprised that surgery is less painful than they think it's going to be," Dr. Reif said.

Results also depend on a patient's base height.

"The shorter you are, the harder it is to lengthen you the full three inches that we generally use as a baseline," Dr. Reif said.

Read the full article at scripps.new.com. 

“The first year I did OI, about six years ago, I did two or three procedures the entire year,” said Dr. Rozbruch. “Now I’m doing two or three a month. My growth has been exponential, and I imagine that’s the kind of explosive growth the country will see over the next 10 years.”

When Dr. Rozbruch got started as one of the first OI surgeons in the country, the operation was performed almost exclusively on above-knee amputees at the younger, fitter end of the spectrum. But successful OI outcomes are now becoming commonplace in patients who fall outside that fairly narrow profile—including patients who are over 70 years old, who have diabetes, who have below-knee amputations, or who face other adverse indications for OI.

Dr. Rozbruch described himself as “the kind of surgeon who is willing to go on the journey” with a patient—meaning he will operate on someone with a less-than-perfect risk profile, as long as the patient understands the odds and accepts their share of responsibility for optimizing outcomes. Dr. Rozbruch is accustomed to exploring new medical frontiers. OI is one of the latest iterations of that.

Read the full article at livingwithamplitude.com. 

Dr. Reif explained, “There has actually been a major advancement in last 10-15 years when it comes to treating patients with a residual limb - the technology is called osseointegration. It is a term that encompasses a piece of metal that is placed into remaining bone (usually the femur or tibia in the lower leg) and the bone then grows onto the implant which then can be directly attached to an external prosthetic.”

Listen to the full episode at WPR.org.

“It was fascinating to find that we could have Drs. S. Robert Rozbruch (chief of Limb Lengthening and Complex Reconstruction Service at HSS) and Austin Fragomen (limb lengthening surgeon at HSS) correct a wide variety of deformity in the tibia, as well as limb length discrepancy prior to total ankle replacement in patients with severe ankle arthritis,” said Dr. Ellis.

Dr. Ellis added, “Successful results in total ankle replacement can be achieved only when correct alignment is obtained at the time of surgery. Sometimes, however, when there are deformities of the tibia or femur (either from congenital problems or previous trauma), much more complex correction of the deformity is required above the level of the ankle before a total ankle replacement can even be considered.”

When asked why this is a new topic in the literature, Dr. Ellis noted, “This has not been studied before because this work can generally only occur at a center with expertise in both tibial osteotomy alignment and total ankle replacement. The study required collaboration between the two services. Also, these cases are not very common, making such a large number of cases not readily accessible.”

Read the full article at Orthospinenews.com.

Duffy wrote, “What I didn’t know at the time was that the injuries I suffered in these two incidents had inflicted such complex and significant damage to my body that they would end my military career and leave me in nearly constant, and sometimes excruciating, pain. My daily life and my personal relationships were overtaken by my injuries and the new ones they repeatedly caused.”

Upon her return to the U.S., Duffy noted she underwent an ankle assessment which indicated several ligament tears and a chip broken away from the bone. For more than a year, Army doctors tried to repair her ankle, however over time the muscles atrophied. By 2019, the damage was so extensive and surgery was unavoidable. Duffy met with S. Robert Rozbruch, MD, chief of Limb Lengthening and Complex Reconstruction Service at HSS, who recommended the option of osseointegration surgery, which would entail amputating her right leg at midcalf. After much consideration, Duffy decided to undergo the surgery.

It’s been more than 12 months since Duffy’s surgery and she is living pain free, returning to fundamental activities such as climbing the stairs and her interest of climbing.

Read the full article at NYTimes.com.

HealthDay spoke to S. Robert Rozbruch, MD, chief of Limb Lengthening and Complex Reconstruction Service at HSS, who was not involved in the study, to provide commentary on the findings. While myoelectric arm protheses exist, which are powered by electrodes placed on the skin of the remaining natural arm, and signals from the muscles are sent to the motors that operate the prosthesis, “this study takes it to another level,” according to Dr. Rozbruch.

“The advantage with the new prosthesis is that the electrical signals from the implanted system appear much stronger, and you get more out of them,” explained Dr. Rozbruch. "That's remarkable stuff. To be able to get both motor [movement] and sensory information,” he added.

Read the full article at consumer.healthday.com.

Prior to his accident Winograd enjoyed fishing, exercising and traveling. After being struck by a box truck in 2018, the left limb below his knee could not be saved, and he underwent osseointegration surgery performed by S. Robert Rozbruch, MD, chief of Limb Lengthening and Complex Reconstruction Service at HSS. Since his surgery, Winograd can do things ‘as if it was [his] regular leg.’

“It feels like I’m a kind of a pioneer in my own little area of surgery,” he said. “I would like to get the word out there and I know there’s a lot of other amputees - especially on Staten Island - who probably have never even heard of osseointegration.”

Read the article at SIlive.com. This also appeared in the March 8, 2020 print issue.

Hamilton became a patient of Dr. Rozbruch when she was only 11 years old and underwent 16 major surgeries to treat her rare bone disorder. She returned to HSS to volunteer as a college student.

"I was able to shadow Dr. Rozbruch that summer, and that experience further solidified my interest in orthopedics. From then on, I knew it was what I wanted to pursue," Hamilton explained. "It was so cool. I’ll never forget how awesome that was."

Now in her second year of medical school, she is still working with Dr. Rozbruch to gain experience.

"She has always had a great attitude and personality," said Dr. Rozbruch. "I think she is going to make a great doctor."

Read the full article at Alumni.Weill.Cornell.edu.

Additional coverage: Thepenngazette.com. 

S. Robert Rozbruch, MD, chief of Limb Lengthening and Complex Reconstruction Service at HSS, started performing osseointegrations about two years ago, mostly on leg amputees. Stieber will be receiving a myoelectric arm.

"It will be a relatively short prosthetic that's going to be very, very sophisticated," explained Dr. Rozbruch. Stieber will be able to control the hand by just thinking about it. "There's a band that goes right around the arm at the level of those muscles, and it transmits the signals to the myoelectric prosthesis," added Dr. Rozbruch.

Watch the segment and read the article at KSN.com. This also aired on the October 8, 2019 broadcast.

Watch the update on Stieber's story after her first surgery on KSN.com.