Illegal leg-lengthening surgery promotions resurface online

Online posts promoting leg-lengthening surgery — a procedure strictly prohibited for cosmetic purposes by Chinese health authorities — are resurfacing, prompting renewed warnings from medical experts about the high risk of complications.

Despite a crackdown on related online content about a year ago, several social media accounts promoting the surgery have reappeared, according to ThePaper.cn, a Shanghai-based news outlet.

To evade detection, the accounts avoid directly mentioning leg-lengthening surgery, instead using euphemisms such as "bone extension." They claim patients can become "4 centimeters taller" after the procedure and boast of successful recoveries, saying "the bones have healed, and the patient is walking well," ThePaper.cn reported.

Many of the accounts list contact information, appearing to target people seeking to increase their height.

In addition, an account believed to be linked to a limb-lengthening clinic in Turkiye has posted content about the surgery, including recovery tips, before-and-after height comparisons, and videos showing post-surgery patients walking, squatting and jumping.

The clinic claimed the procedures were performed by a top surgeon who has completed more than 1,000 successful surgeries and that operations were carried out in Istanbul, with patients staying in the hospital for five days after surgery. The account is no longer searchable.

Orthopedic surgeons say leg-lengthening involves deliberately fracturing bones such as the thigh or shin, inserting a metal rod to provide internal support, and using an external fixator to gradually pull the bone segments apart. New bone forms in the gap over time due to the bone's regenerative capacity.

China's former Ministry of Health stipulated in 2006 that limb-lengthening surgery must be strictly regulated and used only to treat medical conditions such as bone deformities or limb length discrepancies caused by disease or trauma. The procedure is explicitly banned for cosmetic purposes, and aesthetic clinics are not authorized to perform it.

Medical experts have warned of serious risks and long-term consequences associated with limb-lengthening surgery. These include damage to blood vessels and nerves, infection that can lead to osteomyelitis, and joint stiffness caused by prolonged immobilization, Zhang Yaqing, director of pediatric orthopedics and deputy director of the Spine Center at Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, told ThePaper.cn.

The healing process may also result in nonunion, in which the bone fails to heal properly. "The greater the height increase, the higher the risks," Zhang said, noting that uneven adjustments during the procedure can cause leg length discrepancies and lead to walking difficulties.

Patients who experience complications often face major obstacles when seeking legal recourse.

One patient who underwent limb-lengthening surgery on both thighs and calves in Turkiye in 2022 told China Newsweek that although she did gain height, she later developed chronic osteomyelitis in her right calf, X-shaped legs, knee valgus and foot inversion.

Before the surgery, she said, she could run more than 10 kilometers. Now, she struggles to climb stairs without support, cannot stand up from a chair without using her hands, and is unable to run, jump or squat. Walking more than 500 meters feels exhausting, she said, as if her legs are weighed down by heavy sandbags.