Traditional Bone Graft Surgery

Unfortunately, Emily had to undergo the trauma of the traditional reconstructive method before she could enjoy the enormous advantages of the new procedure. When Emily was two years old, her left lower jaw remained essentially nonexistent. Because it was so severely underdeveloped, Dr. McCarthy decided that in her case, distraction alone would not be enough: it would be necessary to perform a bone graft operation first, and then distract, i.e., extend and elongate the harvested bone graft.

"During the bone graft operation, they took a piece of rib bone and nailed it to the fragment of bone in her lower jaw. It was an 8 hour operation," recalls Barbara Munson." Emily had a huge dressing around her head and face, and her eyes were bruised and swollen shut. Her jaw was wired closed, and for 8 weeks, it took two of us to feed her. It was quite an ordeal. But I was relieved to know that her next procedure, using distraction, would be much less traumatic."

Steady Progress

Seven months later, Dr. McCarthy applied the distraction device. "We came to the hospital the same day as the surgery," Barbara Munson recalls. "The operation lasted several hours, and we took Emily home the very next day. For 5 weeks, twice a day, we turned the screw that gradually pulled the bone apart. The device was uncomfortable, but nothing like the bone graft operation." The results soon became obvious; the bone had lengthened beautifully, and the soft tissue above the lower jaw began to fill in.

Four months later, Emily's tracheostomy was removed. Finally, Emily's bedroom began to look like a play room instead of an intensive care unit.