A look at Blount's Disease

Blount's disease is a skeletal growth disorder found in some children. It is the over growth of the tibia and presents when the lower part of the legs start to angle inward and causing “bowed legs”. It is also called tibia vara. It occurs in both children and adolescents and may affect one or both legs. Unlike true bowlegs,Blount's patient's legs do not straighten out over time; they will continue to grow worse as it is progressive.

Causes and Diagnosis

The causes of this disorder are still a little unclear but weight seem to be a significant factor. It is commonly found in obese children or shorter children who places more weight on the growing bones and starts to cause their angular growth. Once they begin to angle gravity will take over and make the problem progress. Likewise, early walking is also suspected as a cause. The child's body is not yet ready to carry the weight so it serves to act the same as being too heavy. For an unknown reason, it tends to affect people of African decent more than Caucasian or Asian decent.

Because tibia vara is so rapidly progressive you will probably realize it before even taking the child to the doctor. You will notice the asymmetry of the legs and the angular nature of the tibia. Even so your physician will confirm with an x-ray before continuing.

Treatments

The good news is that this is a very treatable disorder and even if one treatment fails it will not interfere with the other. If the bowing is severe and caught early if can be corrected with just braces. Sometimes there are problems with that. The bowing might not be severe enough early to get caught in time or the braces might not work for other reasons and might require surgery.

There are two types of surgery depending on the child's age and the severity. The more radical is for older children with a more severe bowing. It involves cutting the tibia and manually re-ailing it. In less severe cases where the child's condition is less pronounced the outer part of the tibia has its growth restricted and the bones will straighten out with growth. The end result should function correctly now and, as long as they lined up the knees properly, leave no cosmetic conditions.

Occasionally the surgery might have to be repeated if it was done while the child was young and the Blount's returned but otherwise the only concern is that the legs end up the same length. If they do not it should be fixed after growth to prevent back problems later on.