Groundbreaking Surgery: Cape Town's Tygerberg Hospital Performs South Africa's First Internal Bone Transfer and Limb Lengthening Procedure

Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, in collaboration with Stellenbosch University, has achieved a national first in South Africa's public health sector by successfully performing a complex surgery combining internal bone transfer and limb lengthening . The procedure was carried out on a 64-year-old former police officer who had suffered chronic pain and a substantial leg length discrepancy following a 2018 gunshot wound.

The surgical team successfully reconstructed a 50 mm bone defect and corrected a 30 mm length difference   using a state-of-the-art internal device . This pioneering approach is celebrated because it avoids the need for external fixators , significantly enhancing patient comfort and accelerating the recovery process. Officials heralded the achievement as demonstrating world-class surgical innovation within the Western Cape public health system, promising restored mobility and dignity for patients with complex limb injuries.