Comparative study of callus progression in limb lengthening with or without intramedullary nail with reference to the pixel value ratio and the Ru Li's classification.

Introduction: Callus progression is a great concern during limb lengthening. In this study, we investigated the difference in callus progression between tibial lengthenings with and without intramedullary nail.

Method: Seventy tibiae in 38 patients with an average age of 24 years were lengthened with Ilizarov external fixator and nail; 56 tibiae in 40 patients with an average age of 28.