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Plastic Surgery Center
Distraction osteogenesis surgery
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After her surgery, Texas Children's patient Ashlynn was
able to give her mother a kiss for the first time.
Read
Ashlynn's story |
Children
suffering from facial disfiguration now have new hope to regain full
function of their facial features, speech, breathing, swallowing and
overall self-esteem. Through a procedure known as distraction
osteogenesis, surgeons at Texas Children’s Hospital transform the
structure of a child’s face.
The
Texas Children’s plastic surgery team is one of the few in the nation to
perform distraction osteogenesis surgery, a procedure that corrects
developmental problems in the face. The conditions may be congenital or isolated
growth problems that become apparent as the child’s face develops.
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Distraction
surgery offers new hope for children with serious facial abnormalities that
affect the movement of their facial features, speech, breathing and
swallowing.
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Children
with facial abnormalities, such as an underdeveloped jaw, have trouble
eating, talking and even smiling. Distraction surgery corrects these
abnormalities, and surgeons often notice a significant boost in self-esteem
for patients who undergo the procedure.
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Distraction
has applications to any birth defect of the major bones of the lower jaw,
upper jaw, the skull and the cranium. The primary use is on the lower
jawbone; however, as experience grows and technology improves, the procedure
will become more common in other areas of the face.
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Distraction
is a painless process that gradually lengthens a child’s jaw and soft
tissue by allowing additional bone growth to occur. The technique also can
be used to position bones in the jaw, face and skull.
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Texas
Children’s specialists treat patients with a multidisciplinary approach,
including the care of the plastic surgeon, oral surgeon, speech therapist,
orthodontist, pediatrician and psychologist.
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The
hospital was one of the first in the nation to offer the surgery, and the
Texas Children’s plastic surgery team has performed distraction on more
than 50 patients.
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Texas
Children’s surgeons are in the first generation of specialists performing
distraction, and trained with the surgeon who created the procedure.
- Texas
Children’s surgeons work directly with the company that designs the
distraction device to continuously improve technologies.
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