2016 Volume 43 Issue 6 Pages 486-492
Purpose: To clarify whether the decrescent insertion of a shoe lift is effective for reducing perceived leg length discrepancy after total hip arthroplasty.
Methods: Six patients who underwent primary unilateral total hip arthroplasty were included. The study was a multiple baseline design across participants. The independent variable was the presence or absence of a shoe lift, and the dependent variable was the perceived leg length discrepancy. In phase A, range of motion exercises, muscle strengthening exercises, and gait exercises were performed by the patients. In phase B, gait exercises using the shoe lift were performed by the patients in addition to the exercises in phase A. Six patients were randomly assigned; two patients performed phase A exercises on postoperative days 3–9 and phase B exercises on postoperative days 10–30, two patients performed phase A exercises on postoperative days 3–16 and phase B exercises on postoperative days 17–30, and two patients performed phase A exercises on postoperative days 3–23 and phase B exercises on postoperative days 24–30.
Results: Results of the randomization test revealed that the reduction of the perceived leg length discrepancy was significantly higher in phase B than in phase A.
Conclusion: The results suggest that it is useful to insert a shoe lift to reduce perceived leg length discrepancy after total hip arthroplasty.
