DEAR DR. GOTT: In 2002 I retired as Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Michigan. For many years I had limited my practice to hip and knee replacement. I taught and performed about 3000 hip replacements. With respect to the equal limb length question, there is a time in the surgery when one must choose between hip stability and limb length equality. A ½” longer leg is soon forgotten and functions well. An unstable hip, however, repeatedly dislocates and must be done again. The real problem here is that the surgeon did not inform the patient of the possibility for a ½” difference. I have ordered a ¼” or ½” heel lift but the patients never asked for a repeat order. I hope your answer does not encourage more litigation.
DEAR DOCTOR: Thank you for your interesting letter — and your comments about hip replacement surgery. Not being a surgeon, I was unaware of how common minor leg length discrepancies were.
I agree that the surgeon should have informed the patient that it may be necessary to shorten the leg slightly to ensure the new hip will function correctly.
Thanks for writing and teaching me and my readers something new.
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