Validity of measuring leg length with a tape measure compared to a computed tomography scan

NewsBot · Jan 10, 2013

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Validity of measuring leg length with a tape measure compared to a computed tomography scan
Kurt Neelly, Harvey W. Wallmann, and Chad J. Backus
Physiotherapy Theory and Practice (online first)

A frequently used technique to measure leg length (LL) is the supine tape measure method (TMM). However, radiographic imaging, more recently computed tomography (CT) scans, has been considered the most accurate. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the TMM for measuring LL compared to CT scans. Additionally, intrarater and interrater reliability of the TMM were assessed. LL measurements of 30 adults (mean = 38.4 years, SD = 13.1 years) were obtained by two physical therapists (PT) using the TMM method, anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) to medial malleoli. Lower extremity CT scans were completed and subsequent LL measurements were obtained. The validity of a single TMM LL compared to CT scan was ICC(2,1) of 0.984 for examiner 1 and 0.978 for examiner 2, while the ICC(2,2) validity of the mean of two measures was 0.992 and 0.990, respectively. Excellent intrarater (ICC3,2 of 0.990 and 0.985) and interrater reliability (ICC2,1 of 0.991) were also found. The supine TMM for measuring LL was shown to have excellent validity when compared to CT scans and excellent intrarater and interrater reliability. These results indicate that the supine TMM is a valid and reliable clinical measurement for PTs when measuring LL.
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Admin2 · Jan 10, 2013

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Griff · Jan 10, 2013

A genuine surprise just how high all those correlation coefficients are - particularly the interrater measures (higher than the intrarater ?!?)

Anyone have a copy of the full text?

drsha · Jan 14, 2013

Ian G said: ↑

A genuine surprise just how high all those correlation coefficients are - particularly the interrater measures (higher than the intrarater ?!?)

Anyone have a copy of the full text?
Click to expand...

I agree but in addition, even a 1/8" LLD can have clinical implications when there is additional biomechanical comorbidities.

Furthermore, supine TMM to the medial malleolus does not allow for any difference that exists in the patient from the medial malleolus down (intra-pedal).
and finally
This is an open chain measurement which has little applicability to the closed chain presentation of the patient and the actual deforming forces that exist in closed chain (i.e. lacks cliical correlation).

For me, that makes this paper of little clinical import and further proves that if supine TMM or CT Scans are the standard, they need replacement.

Until then, LLD, especially in small amounts (>1/2") remains without valid, applicable and acceptable EBM including ths addition.
Dennis

NewsBot · Mar 6, 2020

Validity of clinical methods in the detection of leg-length discrepancies.
Gomez-Aguilar E et al
Hip Int. 2020 Mar 3

INTRODUCTION:
Lower limb-length discrepancy is highly prevalent in the general population. Numerous methods and measurement instruments for its diagnosis appear in the literature, but there has not been an agreement about their validity. The aim of this work is to determine the validity of the Weber-Barstow manoeuvre (WB) of the pelvic measuring device (PMD) and the block method (BM), in comparison with standing anteroposterior telemetry of the lower limbs in subjects with leg-length discrepancy (LLD).

METHODS:
71 subjects took part in the study. First, the WB was carried out in the supine position. the LLD was then quantified standing with the PMD and with the BM. Lastly, standing anteroposterior telemetry of the lower limbs was obtained. This was measured with Autocad 2013, using the highest part of the head of the femur and the most distal edge of the bisection of the femur as points of reference.

RESULTS:
The Kappa index was calculated to check the agreement between the WB manoeuvre and the telemetry. This was 0.52. The relation of the PMD, BM and telemetry difference variables was calculated. A direct relation between the BM and telemetry was shown, with p > 0.05 (0.48 cm and 0.51 cm, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS:
The WB manoeuvre got acceptable validity results. The PMD was not valid according to the results obtained in this work. The BM achieved a good validity result for the diagnosis of LLD
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Validity of measuring leg length with a tape measure compared to a computed tomography scan

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Validity of measuring leg length with a tape measure compared to a computed tomography scan

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

Admin2 Administrator Staff Member

Griff Moderator

drsha Banned

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

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