Background: Treatment of femoral shaft fracture in children depends on age and condition of patient, and may consist of Spica casting, traction followed by casting, external fixator, plate fixation and intramedullary nailing. Leg length discrepancy is a common complication after this fracture. Growth stimulation following this fracture has been known for years but precise cause remains unknown. This is a report on Leg length discrepancy observed in a group of younger children who had been treated with casing, and an older group who received plate fixation for their femoral shaft fractures.Methods: In a cross sectional study, 233 children under 12 years with femoral shaft fracture who had been treated between years 1993 and 1997 in two hospitals in Ahvaz-Iran, were studied. Patients were studied in two groups of surgery or plate fixation (125 patients) and non-surgery or casting (108 patients). With a mean follow of 49 months (22-82 months) clinical and radiographic evaluation of Leg lengths was performed, and possible factors responsible for discrepancy were assessed.Results: The mean Leg length discrepancy in plate fixation was 6.6 mm, and with casting was 1.93 mm. Gender or side of fracture had no significant relationship with post treatment Leg length discrepancy Conclusion: Leg length discrepancy is more likely to be observed in children’s femoral fractures treated with plate fixation. The discrepancy, however, is not a significant amount.

The purpose of this study was to investigation the relationship between strength and Leg length with step length, step rate and sprint velocity during sprint running. Thirty healthy senior high school athletes (Age: 16.8±1.29 year, height: 173.8±5.01cm, weight: 71.18± 5.2 Kg and sport history: 3.2 ±0.45 year) were selected randomly for this study. Leg length and 1RM for quadriceps femoris (Leg press) and triceps surae muscle (calf raise) were measured. Also sprint velocity, step length and step rate were measured during performing maximal - effort sprints by chronometer and camera. Collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods and Pearson correlation coefficient in the level of P≤0.05.The results of this study showed a significant relationship between Leg muscle strength with step length and sprint velocity; and also between Leg length and step length. Whereas there was significant negative relationship between step length and step rate. The result of this study propose that for their hereditary characteristic of Leg length and step rate, sprint runners should increase sprint velocity with improvement of step length by promotion of Leg muscle strength.      

Background: Leg length discrepancy measurement is an essential part of musculoskeletal clinical assessment, and tape measurement is a common clinical method. This study aimed to systematically review the results of the findings of studies on validity and reliability of the tape measurement method and the quality of reporting the literature on this topic. Methods: A search was performed in PubMed, EBSCO, Science Direct, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar using selected keywords from inception to December 2017. This systematic review was based on the PRISMA guideline. After a systematic selection process, the quality of the included studies was assessed independently by 2 reviewers using the Brink and Louw Scale for quality assessment. Results: A total of 11 studies were finally considered for this systematic review. Two studies were about the validity of (a measurement tool) studies and 4 were reliability analysis only. Validity and reliability analyses were simultaneously applied to 5 studies. Also, 9 out of 11 studies were deemed to be of high quality based on Brink and Louw Scale. Studies showed high (ICC=0. 7) to very high (ICC=0. 9) levels of interrater and intrarater reliability. The validity of the methods ranged from low to very high depending on subjects. Conclusion: Tape measurement method has acceptable reliability and validity in healthy people, but it does not have acceptable validity in measuring obese people and patients with musculoskeletal disorders. Thus, using a suitable method for LLD Leg length discrepancy measurement seems to be necessary for obese and individuals with Leg length discrepancy.

Objectives: This study aimed to construct a device that could measure Leg length discrepancy (LLD) automatically. Materials and Methods: The LLD measure device measures LLD with pelvic-tilt method (Program 1) and weight-based method (Programs 2 & 3). Tests were done in 3 phases. 1: Two examiners using the LLD Measure device made-50 to 75 mm artificial LLD in two healthy subjects measuring the degree of pelvic tilt and the load bearing of lower limbs. 2: Sixteen healthy volunteers were asked to stand on the device to measure LLD with program 2 and then with both knees extended to measure LLD with program one. 3: 32 patients who had underwent lower limbs CT scanogram enrolled, and the LLD measurement with program 1 compared with those obtained by CT scanogram. Results: Data’, s obtained in the first phase showed excellent repeatability (intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC] > 0. 9) and very good reproducibility (ICC > 80%) except for measuring the limb load while both knees were extended (ICC ≈,60%). In the second phase, we found no statistically significant difference between measuring LLD using programs 1 and 2 (P = 0. 49). In the third phase, there was no statistically significant difference between measuring LLD using program 1 and CT scanogram (P = 0. 80). Conclusions: We have developed a device to measure LLD semiautomatic with less need for examiner expertise. The results of our new device would be reliable and accurate compared to CT measurements.