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Functional Leg Length DiscrepancyAka: Functional Limb Length Discrepancy, Apparent Leg Length Discrepancy

See Also
1. Functional Leg Length Discrepancy
Causes: Biomechanical
1. Pelvic tilt or rotation
2. Hip joint abnormality
3. Sacroiliac joint abnormality
Signs
1. See Leg Length Discrepancy to test for true inequality
2. Supine to sitting leg length measurement
  1. Patient lies supine with legs in neutral position
  2. Compare leg lengths for equality
  3. Patient bends at torso to sit with legs extended
  4. Positive test: Inequality of leg lengths on sitting
3. Fixed to non-fixed measurement
  1. Patient lies supine with legs in neutral position
  2. Measure both legs from Umbilicus to medial malleolus
  3. Unequal measurement suggests functional shortening
References
1. Hoppenfeld (1976) Spine and Extremities, p. 166

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 6/1/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.