TRUE LEG-LENGTH

DISCREPANCY TEST

​• Test positioning

The client lies supine with hips and knees extended and parallel.

Each leg should be perpendicular to a straight line between both anterior superior iliac spines.

​• Action

With a tape measure, the therapist measures from the most distal point of the anterior superior iliac spines to the most distal point of the medial malleolus.

​• Positive finding

A difference of more than 1 cm is indicative of discrepancies in either the length of the femur or tibia, or in the angle of femoral neck inclination (ie, coxa vara or valga).

​• Special considerations & comments

Significant discrepancies should be verified via radiography, as this is the most accurate method of assessing true (structural) leg-length discrepancies.