Leg length discrepancies and total joint replacments.

5mm cut off ?  MaybeYou are likely to come across hip and knee arthroplasty clients (total joint replacements). When they take a joint out and replace it with a new one, it can be a true challenge to restore leg lengths to equality side to side. Problems often arise down the road once gait is resumed and rehabilitation is completed. It can take time for the leg length discrepancy (LLD) to begin to create compensatory problems. This article seems to suggest that 5mm is the tipping point where gait changes becoming a problem are founded. Other sources will render different numbers, this article found 5mm. The authors found that both over- and underrestoration of leg length/offset showed similar effects on gait and that Gait analysis was able to assess restoration of biomechanics after hip replacement.  I would chose to use the word “change” over restore, since the gait analysis is merely showing the deployed strategies and compensations, never the problem.  But it is a tool, and gait analysis can be a decent tool to show “change”.*Remember, it is not always a product of true length, it can come from the pelvis posturing and/or from the acetabular orrientation, which can be a postoperative sequella. One cannot over look  acetabular inclination, anteversion and femoral component anteversion/retroversion issues.Just remember, before you start making LLD changes with inserts, cork, orthotics etc be sure that you have restored as best as possible, pelvis-hip-spine mechanics because changes here can reflect as a mere leg length discrepancy. And it goes the other way as well, a LLD can cause those changes above.

* Just use your brain and don’t just lift the heel, give them a full sole lift. Heel lifts for this problem are newbie mistakes. Don’t be a newbie.

- Dr. Shawn Allen

Leg length and offset differences above 5 mm after total hip arthroplasty are associated with altered gait kinematicsTobias Renkawitz, Tim Weber, Silvia Dullien, Michael Woerner, Sebastian Dendorfer, Joachim Grifka,Markus Weber
http://www.gaitposture.com/article/S0966-6362(16)30148-5/abstract?platform=hootsuite