Paley Advanced Limb Lengthening Institute at St. Mary’s Medical Center Brings Unique Surgery Option to South Florida

St. Mary’s Medical Center continues to expand its patient services with the opening of the Paley Advanced Limb Lengthening Institute at the Joint Preservation and Bone Reconstruction Center in June. This center, adjacent to the hospital, includes operating rooms, physician offices and a physical therapy center. Heading up the Institute is Dror Paley, M.D., a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Paley is nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise in deformity correction and limb lengthening in both children and adults. These conditions include congenital limb deformities, post-traumatic limb conditions, bone healing problems, bone defects, skeletal dysplasias, metabolic disorders, foot deformities, peripheral nerve disorders and other miscellaneous developmental deformities. Dr. Paley has dedicated more than 22 years to improving the lives of patients with limb disorders.

The new technology at the Paley Advanced Limb Lengthening Institute is essential for the creation of new procedures and methods. The limb lengthening process works by using the body’s natural tendency to heal itself over time. For example, for a leg lengthening procedure, a patient’s shin and femur bones are broken and carefully set with pins and braces that allow the bones to be slowed pulled apart – approximately 1 mm each day. As time progresses, the body generates new bone and tissues as they’re pulled farther apart to make them longer.

Recently, Dr. Paley successfully performed his first limb lengthening surgery at St. Mary’s on Jabari Leake, a three-year-old boy who was born with a congenitally short femur, so his right leg is almost four inches shorter than his left. This rare condition happens to one in a quarter million babies, and without the medical intervention from Dr. Paley, would typically result in amputation of the shortened leg. This is because as patients like Jabari grow, the length difference between the two legs becomes more and more drastic, which eventually makes everyday activities like walking, climbing stairs and running almost impossible without the use of special lifted shoes.

According to Dr. Paley, St. Mary’s services provide all the critical elements required to effectively meet the specialized needs of patients like Jabari, as well as others who come to St. Mary’s from around the country – and the world. True to the Institute’s name, Dr. Paley and St. Mary’s will be introducing several new cutting edge advances in the coming years providing patients with the latest technology in limb lengthening and deformity correction surgery.