Table 1.
Results for all three devices in detail (lengthenings: all patients with lengthening >5 mm; minor lengthening: lengthening >5 mm and ≤50 mm)
| TSF | Ilizarov | Orthofix | All patients | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lengthened distance (mm) | |||||
| Lengthenings—femur | 26.5 (5–73) | 21.0 (5–81) | 40.0 (19–120) | 34.5 (5–120) | 0.009 |
| Lengthenings—tibia | 30.0 (6–75) | 40.0 (15–85) | 40.0 (17–100) | 40.0 (6–100) | 0.071 |
| Minor lengthenings | 30.0 (6–50) | 40.0 (12–50) | 32.0 (17–50) | 30.0 (6–50) | 0.122 |
| All patients | 30.0 (5–75) | 40.0 (5–85) | 40.0 (17–120) | 35.0 (5–120) | <0.001 |
| Distraction time (days) | |||||
| Patients—femur | 30.0 (5–216) | 38.0 (31–68) | 53.0 (19–150) | 40.0 (5–216) | 0.011 |
| Patients—tibia | 30.0 (10–84) | 40.0 (10–105) | 50.0 (19–95) | 35.0 (10–105) | 0.027 |
| Minor lengthenings | 30.5 (13–216) | 40.0 (20–76) | 35.0 (19–95) | 35.0 (13–216) | 0.421 |
| All patients | 30.0 (5–216) | 40.0 (10–105) | 52.0 (19–150) | 35.5 (5–216) | <0.001 |
| Healing index (HI; days/cm) | |||||
| Lengthenings—femur | 87.0 (32–266) | 40.0 (23–111) | 54.8 (19–134) | 55.2 (19–266) | 0.233 |
| Lengthenings—tibia | 67.7 (24–245) | 53.9 (23–173) | 66.1 (29–160) | 61.0 (23–245) | 0.651 |
| Minor lengthenings | 69.2 (24–266) | 56.7 (23–173) | 66.1 (41–160) | 67.7 (23–266) | 0.901 |
| All patients | 68.7 (24–266) | 52.9 (23–173) | 55.0 (19–160) | 56.6 (19–266) | 0.297 |
| Healing index (HI; days/cm) | |||||
| HI for ≤14 years old | 46.4 (24–188) | 51.8 (23–107) | 47.6 (29–89) | 47.6 (23–188) | 0.694 |
| HI for >14 years old | 89.4 (36–266) | 68.3 (23–173) | 57.1 (19–160) | 68.2 (19–266) | 0.016 |
| HI for ≤18 years old | 64.3 (24–266) | 51.8 (23–111) | 54.5 (29–160) | 54.0 (23–266) | 0.472 |
| HI for >18 years old | 142.8 (46–245) | 80.5 (41–173) | 56.2 (19–113) | 68.4 (19–245) | 0.009 |
| Distraction–consolidation time (DCT; days) | |||||
| All patients—femur | 146.5 (85–335) | 136.0 (92–363) | 206.0 (31–480) | 181.5 (31–480 | 0.107 |
| All patients—tibia | 148.5 (90–368) | 213.0 (92–385) | 280.0 (152–458) | 190.0 (90–458) | <0.001 |
| Minor lengthenings | 150.5 (87–368) | 213.0 (129–385) | 206.0 (129–385) | 190.0 (87–385) | 0.079 |
| All patients | 148.0 (85–368) | 204.5 (92–385) | 213.5 (31–480) | 188.0 (31–480) | <0.001 |
| Time between removal of the frame and full weight bearing (days)—all patients | |||||
| Median | 42.0 (13–1150) | 50.0 (10–330) | 48.5 (9–550) | 49.0 (9–1150) | 0.920 |
| Results of deformity measurements after correction and removal of the fixator [25]—all axis corrections | |||||
| mLDFA | 88.0 (82–94) | 86.0 (79–93) | 89.0 (82–100) | 87.7 (79–100) | 0.311 |
| mMPTA | 90.0 (84–94) | 90.0 (87–95) | 90.0 (87–92) | 90.0 (84–95) | 0.674 |
| mLDTA | 89.0 (84–93) | 89.7 (87–92) | 87.5 (80–92) | 89.0 (80–93) | 0.843 |
| aPPTA | 81.0 (50–91) | 73.5 (58–90) | 77.5 (66–91) | 78.0 (50–91) | 0.509 |
The Kruskal–Wallis test was used for the calculation of the P-values