Leg Length Discrepancy in Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to define the leg length discrepancy (LLD) in hemiplegic cerebral palsy compared with normal control group and to evaluate the contributing clinical factors to LLD. METHOD: The study included 27 children with hemiplegic cerebral plasy and 12 normal control group who were taken Bell-Thomson's view x-ray for measuring of leg length. The patient group was divided into the group with LLD and the group without LLD. Then we evaluated the relationship between the rate of leg length shortening (LLS) and clinical factors. RESULTS: Of the total 27 cerebral palsy children, 18 children (66.7%) had LLD, whose average rate of LLS was 2.0 percent. Nine children didn't have LLD, whose average rate of LLS was 0.6 percent. There was no specific relationship between the rate of LLS and the age, muscle power or spasticity, but there was negative correlation between the rate of LLS and the score of gross motor functional measure (GMFM). CONCLUSION: It is necessary to define the LLD in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy by the rate of LLS and to be concerned about the LLD due to its possible correlation with poor functional outcome.