Femoral neck shortening as a sequela of internal fixation for femoral neck fractures and its effect on the coronal alignment of the limb: a pilot study.

Introduction: Femoral neck shortening is a common phenomenon following osteosynthesis for femoral neck fractures, which was shown to have a negative effect on hip function. There is paucity of literature on the effect of shortening on the ipsilateral limb mechanical axis and knee coronal alignment. We hypothesized that postoperative femoral neck shortening can alter the limb's mechanical axis into valgus.