Overuse injuries also called repetitive stress injuries can affect the growth plate in kids and teens. Overuse injuries happens from repeating the same movement over and over. They usually happen to people who play sports. Reviewed by: Amy W. Anzilotti, MD. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size.
What Is a Growth Plate? They include: the femur thighbone the lower legs tibia and fibula the forearm radius and ulna the bones in the hands and feet What Does A Growth Plate Do? When Do Growth Plates Close?
The growth plate is weaker than solid bone. This type of surgery may also be used to stop a growth plate that has started growing too quickly as a result of an injury. Epiphysiodesis is performed using general anesthesia, in one of two ways. A surgeon may remove the growth plate in the leg not affected by the injury, so that the bone stops growing.
Or the surgeon may temporarily attach a surgical staple or a flexible plate to the bone on either side of a growth plate to act as a lock. The lock keeps the bone on either side of the growth plate in place and prevents further growth. A second surgery is required to remove the surgical staple or plate.
When this happens, our doctors may recommend a bone lengthening or shortening surgery. This surgery is most often recommended when a teen has reached maturity and stopped growing or is expected to stop growing soon. During bone-lengthening surgery, a surgeon cuts a bone in the shorter leg into two segments. The segments are then spaced out using surgical pins. As the bone heals, new bone grows to connect the segments. The result is a strong, longer bone. During bone-shortening surgery, a surgeon removes a section from the middle of a bone in the longer leg and joins the two pieces with a plate or rod so that they heal into a strong, shorter bone.
Children can usually go home a few days after the surgery and are back to normal activities in 6 to 12 months, often without needing to wear a cast. Both types of surgery require general anesthesia. Since there is no way to regenerate the growth plate cartilage after a physeal bar, additional treatments are required.
These may include resection removal of the partial growth arrest or a limb lengthening procedure. If a child is almost fully grown and experiences a complete growth stoppage in a limb on one side of the body, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon may recommend closing the growth plate in the limb on the other side so that both limbs remain the same length. Growth Plate Injuries. Back in the Game patient stories. In-person and virtual physician appointments. Book online. Urgent Ortho Care.
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