Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Sep-Dec;15(3):163-168.
doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10080-1502.

Exploring the Ethics of Stature Lengthening as Treatment for Height Dysphoria

Richard C Lee  1 , Mark Aulisio  1 , Raymond W Liu
Affiliations
Review

Exploring the Ethics of Stature Lengthening as Treatment for Height Dysphoria

Richard C Lee et al. Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr. 2020 Sep-Dec.

Abstract

Aim: To promote a discussion on the ethics and justifications of stature lengthening in patients without skeletal deformity.

Background: Stature lengthening for height gain in patients without skeletal deformity has stirred controversy within the orthopedic community. However, current literature does not delineate the ethical issues surrounding this procedure. Improvements in the techniques, technology, and safety profile of stature lengthening warrant an ethical discussion to challenge, justify, and guide the use of this surgical procedure.

Review results: Examination of ethical issues leads to the distinction between the dual roles of stature lengthening as a treatment vs an enhancement. The primary focus on stature lengthening as treatment allows for exploration of "height dysphoria"-a psychological burden caused by a dissatisfaction with one's height-as the primary pathology that may justify surgical intervention.

Conclusion: In our opinion, additional work is required to establish "height dysphoria" as a true pathology in order to ethically justify stature lengthening as a legitimate form of treatment. Further discussion is needed to address the ethics of stature lengthening as an enhancement.

Clinical significance: This paper addresses salient ethical issues of stature lengthening in patients without skeletal deformity by exploring historical, contemporary, and comparative contexts.

How to cite this article: Lee RC, Aulisio M, Liu RW. Exploring the Ethics of Stature Lengthening as Treatment for Height Dysphoria. Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr 2020;15(3):163-168.

Keywords: Enhancement; Ethics; Height dysphoria; Stature lengthening; Treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None

References

    1. Guerreschi F, Tsibidakis H. Cosmetic lengthening: what are the limits? J Child Orthop. 2016;10(6):597–604. doi: 10.1007/s11832-016-0791-z. DOI: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Leopold SS, Sabharwal S. Editorial: indications—on the fringes and in the mainstream. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2014;472(11):3247–3249. doi: 10.1007/s11999-014-3927-9. DOI: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bostrom N, Roache R. Human enhancement: ethical issues in human enhancement. In: Ryberg J, Petersen TS, Wolf C, editors. New Waves in Applied Ethics. eds. London, UK: Palgrave-Macmillan; 2007.
    1. Catagni MA, Lovisetti L, Guerreschi F, et al. Cosmetic bilateral leg lengthening: experience of 54 cases. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2005;87(10):1402–1405. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.87B10.16468. DOI: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vishwanathan K, Nimbalkar S. Cosmetic limb lengthening in a patient of normal stature: ethical considerations. Indian J Med Ethics. 2017;2(1):45–48. doi: 10.20529/IJME.2017.009. DOI: - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources