Epiphysiodesis: a problem of timing.

A retrospective review of 67 distal femoral and proximal tibial epiphysiodeses, performed over a 14 year period for correction of leg length inequality, revealed only 22 patients with a final discrepancy of less than 1 cm. Ten of the 45 failures were secondary to inadequate surgical epiphysiodesis. The remaining 35 failures were secondary to errors in timing surgery due to incorrect use of Green and Anderson growth prediction tables. The primary causes of failure would have been decreased by more careful follow-up and the use of the Moseley Graph.