Twenty skeletally mature patients (average age, sixteen years and seven
months; range, thirteen years and seven months to twenty-two years and four
months) were treated for limb-length inequality by closed shortening of the
femur. Preoperatively, the amount of femoral shortening that was necessary
to level the pelvis was determined radiographically by balancing the pelvis
with calibrated lifts under the shorter extremity. All twenty shortening
procedures were performed with an intramedullary cam saw and insertion of
an intramedullary rod through a gluteal incision; no additional incisions
were needed to complete the procedure. At the most recent follow-up, the
limb-length discrepancy was one centimeter or less in all twenty patients.
All patients reported that the limbs seemed to be of equal length and that
the pelvis felt level.