China's Ministry of Health has moved to dissuade people from
undergoing leg-lengthening surgery following recent reports of
patients' legs becoming disfigured after the operation.
The operation, which involves breaking the patients' legs and
stretching them on a rack, has become popular among young
professionals desperate to climb up the ladder in the country's
height-conscious society.
"Leg-lengthening surgery is a clinical orthopedic treatment, not
cosmetic surgery," Mao Qun'an, the Health Ministry spokesman, said
on Tuesday at a press conference.
"Leg-lengthening surgery must only be carried out for strict
medical reasons and performed in authorized hospitals," Mao
added.
The surgical procedure was originally developed in Russia to
help patients with legs disfigured by accidents or birth defects
such as dwarfism.
According to the Beijing Institute of External Skeletal Fixation
Technology, the cost of the surgery is about US$15,000 to US$25,000
and it takes about two years to recover.
Last month, ten people were reported to have been disfigured
after they underwent the operation last year. They were all
introduced to the Beijing Xiangshan hospital from a Chinese website
that advocates "height surgery with no pain."
Hospitals must inform patients of the risks of the surgery and
get the patients consent, Mao said.
Health departments at all levels must investigate medical
institutions that illegally carry out leg-lengthening surgery and
punish those without the right qualifications, he added.
(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2006)