Gavril Abramovich Ilizarov is an orthopedic doctor who worked in the north of Soviet Russia in the 50s. He designed a device by combining his own intelligence and the material production power of that period and successfully treated the most difficult diseases and non-union fractures of orthopedics with this device he designed in about 70 years ago. Due to limited communication of that time and limited political communications of the Soviet Union he could not present his device to the world until a conference in Italy in 1982. Being aware of the fact that he made a very important discovery as a scientist, he aimed to make this discovery a world heritage. For this reason, he presented both his device and its working principles to the world at the first International Congress he attended.
The device designed by Ilizarov is also called the Ilizarov Device. The Ilizarov device is a bone holding/fixing device. However, it is designed in the form of a ring, which is unique in the world. The frame, which is formed by combining these rings, is fixed to the human limbs and thus, controlled correction and lengthening can be made. Until this period, it was almost impossible for orthopedic doctors to treat short limbs, nonunions, or infected bones. The Ilizarov device and its principles of use allow creating a healthy bone tissue out of nothing. This bone tissue can be used to lengthen a short bone, or it can be replaced by infected bone tissue. Moreover, the technique allows to keep every step of the treatment under control without damaging the soft tissues surrounding the bone.
Today, with Ilizarov Surgery, unilateral or bilateral shortness of arms or legs, dwarfism, nonunion fractures, congenital limb deficiencies, bone curvatures that occur later or while growing, or the most difficult bone infections can be treated. For each problem, the Ilizarov device is modified accordingly. Again, there are different treatment durations for each problem and amount of shortness. However, the basic principles of the device and the treatment are the same.
Ilizarov surgery excels with rehabilitation, both while the device is attached and after treatment is completed. Joint stiffness and movement restrictions can be seen both during and after treatment. In these cases, good physical therapy and rehabilitation are helpful in returning to unrestricted and functional life. The duration of physical therapy varies according to the treatment and diseases.
As a result, Ilizarov surgery is an ongoing treatment method that is used safely in difficult-to-treat areas of orthopedics, requires close follow-up and careful monitoring, and where the family and the patient participate in the treatment process, in line with the amount of lengthening and correction.
In this sense, I took a part in the preparation of this book series in which everything about Ilizarov surgery is explained, with the hope of making a small contribution to the Turkish Orthopedic community and our colleagues, together with my mentor Prof. Dr. Mehmet Çakmak and our experienced friends in this field.
