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A Three‐Year Anatomical Study of Lower Limb Length Discrepancy (LLLD) in an Urban Population Group
Author(s) -
Jeanty Hamerton D,
Weedon Jeremy,
Marquez Samuel
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.lb13
Subject(s) - femur , medicine , tibia , significant difference , anatomy , population , surgery , environmental health
LLLD patients as a group exhibit significantly poorer postoperative total hip/knee replacement outcomes with considerably more limping than preoperative patients with an anatomical LLLD; implicating compensatory mechanisms at play for the latter group. This three‐year study examines the frequency of LLLD and identifies the bony segments of the lower limb that contributes to the sample variance. 287 femora and tibial measures were taken from donor specimens at the SUNY Downstate Anatomy programs (males: n=37) and (females: n=35); examining side dominance and sex interaction effects. Mixed Linear modeling was used to predict tibia and femur length; using gender side of body and their interaction as predictors. As expected there was a statistical significant difference between sexes for mean tibial length ( F [1,70]=29.11, p <0.001). There was no difference found according to side of body ( F [1,46]=0.25, p =0.622) and no sex interaction ( F [1,46]=0.18, p =0.673). Similarly, a statistical difference between mean femur length by sex was revealed ( F [1,70]=26.49, p <0.001) and a significant difference found in side of body ( F [1,55]=5.84, p =0.019) but no sex interaction ( F [1,55]=0.07, p =0.787). Results implicate the femora as the significant contributor to LLLD with the right femora being longer than the left in both males and females. Sex interaction effects did not contribute to this difference, appearing to be of similar extent in both sexes. LLLD research continues to demonstrate the importance of accounting for asymmetric functionality in the preoperative evaluation for total hip/knee replacements. Our preliminary results may prove particularly useful in orthopedic surgery where a better understanding of LLLD would lead to improved outcomes in this unique patient demographic.