Leg length

[Jbennett]

Dr Gross left me an operative report this morning. I guess it's a summary he submits to the hospital?? Anyway it notes a leg length increase of 3mm. I guess I'll ask him or nancy tomorrow when they see me before discharge. I was just curious if that was intentional or was it just because the components increased it. I do seem to call my hips were slightly off from the ortho that first diagnosed my oa. I was wondering if he was adding 3mm to even out leg length? Anybody have experience with that?

[Neild5]

An increase of 3 mm is about the most that resurfacing can do.  Your body will easily accommodate that since the OA probably had shrunk the joint by that much.

[Aerial]

I also had surgery with Dr. Gross.  I had a small increase in leg length, not as much as you (sorry can't remember what it was but it was on the operative report)!

[John C]

My surgery with Dr Gross came out 4mm longer than before. We had discussed the fact that my femur had worn a few mm's into my acetabulum, and he had tried to set the cup so that it was back at the original depth, which may explain why. My PT measured that it came out 4mm's longer than my other leg, so it may have not been intentional. The leg felt slightly longer at first, but soon felt normal, and it has never been an issue.

[mslendzion]

My surgeon evened out my legs during the surgery.  My bad leg had become shorter than it was when I had a healthy hip.  After surgery I'm normal again.  I wonder if I was lucky and 4mm was the magic number to even things out again.

[Jbennett]

Evened out is what I'm hoping for.

[Dannywayoflife]

I think they try to return your leg to a pre OA length as if your bone on bone then your leg has shortened as the cartilage has disappeared. My leg felt longer for a few months but feels the right length now. Also don't forget the capsule will take a long time to stretch back to a normal size again so that could exasperate the sensation. 

[BrianROC]

Dr. Gross made me 2mm taller in each hip. 2" taller would have been nice. 

[jb46]

I'm a 1/4" shorter on side Dr. Gross is resurfacing in April, due to major knee surgery/straightening of a bone. Can they make up that much?
Hadn't given it much thought till I saw this post.

Congrats J...hope all continues to go well...can't wait to join ya...jb

[Tin Soldier]

I think measuring leg length difference like a PT does (pulling your legs together while you lay flat on the table) may be different than what the surgeon does (x-rays and fancy resurfacing templates and tools).  I'm speculating here so you might want to ask Gross about what exactly that measurement means and how it's measured. 

I would think measuring off some solid points on the pelvis and femur using x-ray and maybe some tools during surgery, would give you a pretty exact measurement within the hip area.  The PT on the table is going to get a lot "slop" from the back, angle of pelvis, and maybe even parts of the leg.  A lot of that "slop" goes away after sugrery and after recovery from years of limping. 

Also, If I recall correctly, the surgeon is trying to get the spacing back to the happy spot of about 8 mm (2 layers of cartilage and 4 mm or more of syn fluid), so they have to think about the thickness of the cup and the cap, which are essentially touching each other, and try to recreate that "spacing" which would put the hip back to a pre OA condition.  I think that is the primary goal for spacing and the actual leg length difference that might be measured by a PT is not really considered during surgery.  Again, I'm speculating, might want to double-check this concept with the surgeon. 

I guess, my point is that I've seen a number of discussion on this topic and a lot of the leg length issues seem to resolve themsleves after surgery and recovery to a more normal gate/posture.

[Jbennett]

I think Dr. Gross takes that measurement from a point he establishes through the second little incision he makes a few inches above the main incision. On me it's about a 3/4" cut right about where the waist of my pants sits. Anybody know if I'm correct about that? They don't even suture it. Just throw a round band aid on it then cover that in the same waterproof dressing they put on the main wound.