The 'Quartered Head Technique': a simple, reliable way of maintaining leg length and offset during total hip arthroplasty.

Introduction: Various techniques have been described for restoring leg length and offset during total hip arthroplasty (THA). We herein describe a novel "Quartered Head Technique" (QHT) involving a series of femoral osteotomies.
Methods: 124 hips were included in the analysis. An anterolateral approach was used in all cases. Leg length, and offset were assessed intraoperatively and reproduced using the QHT. A leg-length discrepancy (LLD) of <6 mm was chosen as acceptable based on previously published literature. Postoperative pelvic radiographs were assessed by two independent observers to ensure inter-observer reliability.
Results: The mean absolute postoperative difference in leg length from the contralateral leg was +3.58 mm. 84% of patients had LLD within ±6 mm of the contralateral limb. Mean absolute postoperative difference in offset from the contralateral leg was +3.88 mm. 90% of patients were within ±6 mm offset of the contralateral limb. There was no statistical difference noted between observer measurement.
Conclusions: The QHT provides a simple, inexpensive, yet effective method of maintaining femoral leg length and offset during total hip arthroplasty.
Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.