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Technique · External

External fixation

Lengthening in which an external frame, attached to the bone with wires or pins that pass through the skin, produces the gradual lengthening.

listed providers
20
countries
14
provider types
2
care models
1

Methods here are lengthening techniques, kept separate from the devices used with them and from providers' own procedure names. Listings are provider-reported and publicly sourced, and informational only — LimbAtlas does not recommend a technique or device, and suitability depends on an individual clinical assessment. Confirm current details directly with a provider. Diagrams are simplified illustrations, not to scale and not of any specific device.

Classification

Category
External
Also called
External fixator lengthening, Frame lengthening, Ilizarov method

How it works

AAOS describes the bone being cut and an external fixator being applied to the leg, connected to the bone with wires, pins, or both.

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital's patient guide names two main types of external fixator, monolateral and circular, and two main kinds of circular fixator: the Ilizarov fixator and the hexapod.

Typical components

  • An external frame — circular (rings around the limb) or monolateral (one side of the limb)
  • Wires and/or pins that connect the frame to the bone

Devices providers name with it

Device types: Circular external fixator, Monolateral external fixator.

A device is not a technique: the same frame or nail can be part of different techniques. Listed devices are ones providers name on LimbAtlas, not a complete market list.

Points to discuss with a treating team

  • AAOS lists stiffness of the joints immediately above and below the bone being lengthened among the possible complications of external lengthening.
  • The RNOH patient guide names pin-site infection as the most common complication of having an external fixator. Ask how pin-site care is taught and followed up.

Rehabilitation

AAOS describes regular follow-up visits and extensive rehabilitation, including physical therapy and home exercise, for both internal and external lengthening.

Where providers list this method

What listing providers offer

Provider types

  • Hospital16 of 20
  • Surgical clinic4 of 20

Care models

  • Surgery + rehabilitation20 of 20

Services stated in profiles

Rehabilitation

  • Available20

Accommodation

  • Not publicly stated20

Patients operated elsewhere

  • Not publicly stated20

Across 20 listed providers.

Related methods

Related by how the taxonomy groups methods, not by clinical similarity or suitability.

Providers currently listing this method

20 listed providers · shown alphabetically

Refine these providers in the directory

Related guides

  • Getting started

    What is limb lengthening?

    A plain-language introduction: the principle of gradual bone lengthening, the main ways it is carried out, why people consider it, and what the process involves over time.

    4 min readReviewed

  • Methods & devices

    Internal and external limb lengthening

    How the four techniques LimbAtlas records differ in where the lengthening hardware sits — inside the bone, outside the limb, or both — and what that structural difference does and does not tell you.

    4 min readReviewed

  • Methods & devices

    Understanding limb lengthening devices

    How a named device such as PRECICE, FITBONE or the Taylor Spatial Frame differs from a device type and from a treatment technique — and how to read the device information on a LimbAtlas profile.

    4 min readReviewed

Sources

  1. Lower Limb Length Discrepancy (opens in a new tab)

    OrthoInfo, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons · Professional medical source · checked 3 Oct 2026

    Patient information focused on children. Used only for general descriptions of external and internal lengthening, follow-up and rehabilitation.

  2. A Patient's Guide to External Fixation for Bone Correction and Lengthening (opens in a new tab)

    Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust · Hospital website · checked 3 Oct 2026

    Used for the two main external fixator types (monolateral and circular) and the Ilizarov and hexapod kinds of circular fixator.

  3. External Fixators (opens in a new tab)

    International Center for Limb Lengthening, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore · Hospital website · checked 3 Oct 2026

    Used for the descriptions of circular, Taylor Spatial Frame, Ilizarov and monolateral fixators.