Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has proven to be one of the most successful operations done in orthopedic surgery. Preoperative planning including meticulous history, examination and preoperative templating is quite important and must be done to all cases as a routine. Numerous studies used surrogates for clinical success rates that included satisfaction of the patient, reduced pain, improvement of function, and the absence of the need for further surgery. Minimizing leg length discrepancy and restoring offset to normal is very important for good functional outcome, patient satisfaction and quality of life.
Aim of the Study: Radiological and functional assessment of restoring the leg length and hip offset after total hip replacement. Also, to compare different methods used to decrease leg length discrepancy with the method used in this study.
Patients and Methods: Prospective study of 50 patients (31 males and 19 females) with arthritic hips for various reasons undergoing either cemented or uncemented total hip arthroplasty. The mean age was 47 years old. Preoperative history and examination for all patients was done, pre-and post-operative evaluation of offset and limb length was done for all patients, pre-and post-operative evaluation of hip function using Harris Hip Score was done in addition to evaluation of abductor muscles power. Variable intraoperative methods were used to minimize the limb length discrepancy after the operation.
Results: There was a statistical significance between hip offset pre-and post-operative and between limb length discrepancy pre- and post-operative. Harris Hip Score was improved post-operative.
Conclusion: Limb length restoration is very important for improvement of Harris Hip Score. The intraoperative clinical method is much effective to minimize limb length discrepancy as other methods, although it is much easier to apply.