Van Nes rotationplasty in two patients with congenital femoral deficiency

Congenital femoral deficiencies have a wide spectrum ranging from simple hypoplasia to complete femoral apla-sia. They are often associated with congenital shortening of the tibia and fibular hemimelia. This anomaly has no known genetic transmission. There are two main treatment modalities for congenital femoral deficiency: prosthetic replacement surgery (Syme amputation or Van Nes rota-tionplasty followed by prosthetic fitting) and lengthening reconstruction surgery. In this report, we presented two patients (male, 26 years; girl, 7 years) with congenital femoral deficiency treated with Van Nes rotationplasty. In both cases, the treatment took 1.5 months, after which the patients were mobilized with prosthesis. No complications were encountered within a follow-up period of five years and 1.5 years, respectively. Rotationplasty enables an improved functional gait in patients with a very short femoral segment or Paley type 3 femoral deficiency.