Symptom >> Surgical >> Orthopedics

The legs are not the same length

Introduction
Cause
Examine
Diagnosis

Introduction

Introduction The unequal length of the two lower limbs means that the length of the lower limbs is inconsistent. There are many diseases leading to this phenomenon, such as femoral head necrosis at early stage, early closure of the epiphysis, congenital dislocation of the hip, overlapping healing of lower extremity fractures, tuberculosis of the bones and joints, and sequelae of poliomyelitis. The underlying causes of unequal length of the lower extremities include long bone dysplasia of the lower extremities or shortened displacement of the fractures, resulting in different lengths; congenital dislocation of the hip due to congenital and acquired diseases of the hip joint, such as congenital hip dysplasia, Caused by femoral head necrosis, femoral neck fracture or intertrochanteric fracture; and the destruction of bone by tuberculosis, tumor or infection, so that it loses its original length.

Cause

Cause

The length of the lower limbs is relatively common in clinical practice, and the diseases leading to this phenomenon are more, such as early closure of the epiphysis, congenital dislocation of the hip, overlapping healing of lower extremity fractures, tuberculosis of the bones and joints, sequelae of poliomyelitis. The underlying causes of unequal length of the lower extremities include long bone dysplasia of the lower extremities or shortened displacement of the fractures, resulting in different lengths; congenital dislocation of the hip due to congenital and acquired diseases of the hip joint, such as congenital hip dysplasia, Caused by femoral head necrosis, femoral neck fracture or intertrochanteric fracture; and the destruction of bone by tuberculosis, tumor or infection, so that it loses its original length. Because of the numerous diseases that cause unequal length of the lower limbs, the treatment of their daring varies from disease to disease. For those with acute injuries such as traumatic hip dislocation, femoral trochanteric fractures, and femoral and tibial fractures, the shortening of the deformity can be corrected by early resetting as soon as possible. For some cases due to ischemic necrosis, advanced rheumatoid arthritis or late contracture deformity, osteonecrosis dysfunction, etc., surgical treatment can be performed, artificial joint replacement is performed to correct joint deformity and correct the unequal length of both lower limbs. For long bones such as the femur, tibia, dysplasia, shortening deformity after fracture, if the degree is light, the difference in length of the lower limbs can be corrected by orthopedic shoes, if the degree is serious, it is possible to consider the limb extension or The contralateral osteotomy, because the latter needs to destroy normal tissue, is less used, and the former has certain limitations due to the length of the peripheral vascular nerve. It can be seen that not every length of the lower limbs can be corrected. Similarly, in some active stages of tuberculosis, tumors, and infections, it is generally inappropriate to perform surgical correction to prevent systemic spread of bacteria or tumor cells.

Examine

an examination

Related inspection

Lifting leg test straight leg raising test

The patient is young, depending on the degree of symptoms. According to his medical history and X-ray, auxiliary examination, total hip replacement should be performed.

Diagnosis

Differential diagnosis

Differential diagnosis of two legs that are not the same length:

Lame legs: Mostly due to traumatic injuries, fractures or car accidents in the leg, the lower limbs have a long and short clinical manifestation. Diagnosis can be based on medical history and clinical symptoms.