Unusual Amputees and Prostheses Discussed As Orthopedic Surgeons Meet
By F. L. Lake, C.P.O.
Unusual amputees and unusual prostheses-with patients to illustrate- was a subject creating much interest at the annual meeting of the Russell Hibbs Society of Orthopedic Surgeons in Oklahoma City. May 29-30, 1959, at the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine.
The Society is composed of 35 orthopedic surgeons from various sections of the United States, interested in the many phases of research in all types of orthopedics.
At the session on prosthetic appliances, the following patients were shown:
- Boy, age 22 months, congenital absence of left leg below knee, congenital deformity of right leg. He was fitted with a BK wood limb, with plastic thigh corset, on the left, and the right deformed limb was fitted with a Canadian Symes limb. SACH feet were used on both.
- Boy, age 14 years, knee disarticulation, fitted with a molded plastic, end-bearing socket, quadrilateral shape with ischial weight-bearing seat. Socket made rigid in posterior area, with the anterior area flexible with laced front. SACH foot was used.
- Boy, 11 years old, congenital shoulder disarticulation. Fitted with a plastic arm, with shoulder abduction hinge socket made to extend across the back, below the 7th cervical vertebrae, over the opposite shoulder and clavicle, giving greater stability.
- Boy, age 3 years, bi-lateral congenital absence of both forearms, and congenital deformities in both lower extremities. He was fitted with AE arms, locking elbows, friction wrists, and wafer hooks. Right leg was fitted as a below-knee. with molded plastic socket, locking knee joints, with the side straps extending to the ankle joint, molded weight bearing thigh corset, wood foot. Left leg fitted with a special prosthesis, wood foot with angle joint, side straps extending from the ankle joint to upper thigh, no knee joints, molded plastic so.kef covering deformed foot, knee, and thigh. The patient walks, stands, and has good use of both arms.
- Bilateral BK amputee, middle aged. Wearing limbs similar to those being developed at the University of California at Berkley; molded plastic, total contact sockets, extending well over the patella, and the condyles of the femur; shins are wood, plastic covered, with SACH feet. Left stump is 8 1/2": right stump is 4" in length.
A great deal of interest was created by our demonstration, and it was apparent, by the questions asked, that the medical profession as a whole has had very few opportunities to see the new and unusual in prosthetic appliances.
Several of the doctors were especially interested in the new type below-knee prostheses, and wanted to know where they could learn more about them. We explained that all prostheses demonstrated were the result of our basic training at the U.C.L.A. Prosthetic Schools, and the research was done by our Clinic Team.
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