category
Dec 9, 2025
South Africa's first fully internal limb reconstruction completed at Tygerberg Hospital
Zawya.com
Tygerberg Hospital has reached a major national milestone by performing South Africa's first fully internal bone transport and limb-lengthening reconstruction.
The hospital is a flagship tertiary facility of the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness (WCDHW).
Limb salvage technique
In partnership with Stellenbosch University, the hospital now stands among only a few centres worldwide capable of performing this advanced limb salvage technique within the public sector.
The provincial department said the patient, a 64-year-old former police officer, had lived with the long-term consequences of a severe gunshot injury sustained in 2018.
"Despite multiple surgeries elsewhere, he continued to struggle with chronic pain, an unhealed fracture, and a substantial difference in leg length that affected his quality of life."
Professor Nando Ferreira said: "This operation demonstrates how far we have come in building world-class limb reconstruction capacity within the South African public sector.
"For patients who have lived for years with chronic pain and disability, advanced internal bone transport offers a genuine second chance at normal function."
The surgeons had to reconstruct a 50mm bone defect and correct a 30mm limb-length discrepancy.
The fully internal device allows surgeons to complete both bone transport and subsequent limb lengthening without external frames, improving comfort, reducing complication risks, and shortening recovery.
The newly regenerated bone is expected to form over roughly 100 days, followed by several months of consolidation
According to the International Centre for Limb Lengthening, bone transport is a procedure to grow new bone in a region where there is a missing section of bone due to infection, trauma or disease.
Ferreira said his unit was selected as one of only a few centres worldwide to use this procedure during its limited market release.
"This level of innovation reflects the strength of our surgical team, our academ
