LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – People come to Las Vegas from all over the world as tourists for the casinos, the world-class shows, and top restaurants. Over the past few years, some are coming to get a little taller. They are medical tourists seeking out a type of procedure you can’t find in most major cities in the country.
At the Limbplastx Institute in Henderson, there is growing demand for limb lengthening surgery especially with a new device promising a faster recovery. With limb lengthening surgery, like any cosmetic procedure, people are looking to alter their physical appearance and boost their confidence.
“People have called me short and ‘I’m like 5′9″ isn’t short,’” a father of three and small business owner from Vegas who asked not to be identified told FOX5. He allowed FOX5 in the operating room at Sunrise Hospital. He is one of the first people in the world to get a new medical device to lengthen his legs, the newly FDA-approved Precice Max, at the hands of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Debiparshad, known to his patients as Dr. D.
“Vegas is often first in many realms like entertainment, the culinary industry, now the sporting industry, the Super Bowl and F1, we tend not to be the first in the medical or education,” Dr. D. contended. Dr. hopes he is helping to change that. After training at Harvard, Dr. D came to Las Vegas to set up one of the premiere sites for limb lengthening in the world, the Limbplastx Institute. Dr. D has done hundreds of the procedures on people from around the world, and not just cosmetic procedures.
“For deformity, congenital defect, traumatic injuries, sometimes if someone has cancer you can resect part of the bone out and then re-grow the bone,” Dr. D revealed.
Since 2016, the patient who asked to remain anonymous has been saving for the cosmetic procedure that cost around $80,000. He believes it will all be worth it since his height has bothered him for 20 years.
“I guess it dates back to when I was 14-15 going through puberty wanting to be taller than the rest of my siblings… Even though I am taller than most of my family, it doesn’t compare to the real world,” the patient confessed.
After he fully recovers, the patient should be about six feet tall. Thanks to the new device with stronger rods, he will literally be back on his feet faster than any of Dr. D’s previous patients.
“The patient will be able to walk right away because of the increased weight bearing capacity of the implant,” Dr. D stated.
“Throughout my life people who are taller always had the advantages,” argued Hugo Ramirez, who went from 5′9″ to 6′1″ last year, confined to bed for a three month recovery.
“I couldn’t walk. I had to learn how to walk all over again,” Ramirez explained. Despite a grueling recovery, Ramirez is ready for more. Next month, Ramirez will come back to Vegas for a second procedure with the new device with the goal of reaching 6′4″.
“I am still getting the rush off 6′1″. I can only imagine what the rush is going to be on 6′3″, 6′4″,” Ramirez shared.
There is such a growing demand for these procedures Dr. D plans to move his practice from an office off St. Rose Parkway to a 14,000 square foot facility near the new Durango Casino in the Southwest Valley.
Dr. D is featured in a new special: “IMPACT x Nightline: Short Kings: The Big Business of Getting Tall.” You can find it on Hulu.
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