An experimental study on femoral lengthening in lambs has been performed with the following objetives in mind: 1) To determine the ideal technique and level of osteotomy in bone lengthening: 2) To assess the integrity of the intramedullary vessels after the so-called corticotomies. Fifty 2-month-old male lambs have been included in this experiment. Animal grouping has been made according to the type and level of the lengthening osteotomy performed: percutaneous metaphyseal, percutaneous diaphyseal, open diaphyseal and open metaphyseal. Another group of ten lambs has been included in order to asses the condition of the intramedullary vessels just after a percutaneous diaphyseal osteotomy. The main conclusions of this study are as follows: 1) The ideal tecnique and level of osteotomy for bone lengthening in lambs seem to bepercutaneous and metaphyseal. 2) The satisfactory reconstructions of the lengthened segment observed using percutaneous osteotomies cannot be explained by the maintenance of the integrity of the intramedullary vessels after the osteotomy.

An experimental study on femoral lengthening in lambs has been performed with the following objetives in mind: 1) To determine the ideal technique and level of osteotomy in bone lengthening: 2) To assess the integrity of the intramedullary vessels after the so-called corticotomies. Fifty 2-month-old male lambs have been included in this experiment. Animal grouping has been made according to the type and level of the lengthening osteotomy performed: percutaneous metaphyseal, percutaneous diaphyseal, open diaphyseal and open metaphyseal. Another group of ten lambs has been included in order to asses the condition of the intramedullary vessels just after a percutaneous diaphyseal osteotomy. The main conclusions of this study are as follows: 1) The ideal tecnique and level of osteotomy for bone lengthening in lambs seem to bepercutaneous and metaphyseal. 2) The satisfactory reconstructions of the lengthened segment observed using percutaneous osteotomies cannot be explained by the maintenance of the integrity of the intramedullary vessels after the osteotomy.