Ipsilateral Secondary Hip Osteoarthritis and Leg Length Discrepancy: Treated Simultaneously with Total Hip Replacement and Motorized Lengthening

Leg length discrepancy (LLD)Leg length discrepancy (LLD) after total hip replacement (THR)Total hip replacement (THR) has been associated with gait disturbance, back pain, and patient dissatisfaction (Maloney and Keeney, J Arthroplasty 19:108–110, 2004). LLD can be minimized with meticulous preoperative planning and its execution. Since significant acute lengthening of the leg over 3–4 cm can be a contributory factor in the development of nerve palsy, LLD cannot be safely eliminated in some cases. This section presents a case of 42 year old male with right-sided secondary hip osteoarthritis and 8 cm femoral shortening resulting from Perthes disease plus constitutional LLD who was treated with noncemented THR and motorized lengthening nail insertion at the same setting. Remaining LLD after THR was corrected by distal femoral lengthening postoperatively.