ANALYSIS OF ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR SUCTION-SOCKET WEARERS FOLLOWED FROM SIX TO FIFTY-FIVE MONTHS

¹ Orthopaedic Service, Wadsworth General Hospital, Veterans Administration Center, Los Angeles, California; Veterans Administration Regional Office, Los Angeles, California

A critical evaluation of 124 suction-socket prosthesis wearers who have been observed between six and fifty-five months, clearly indicates the desirability of this appliance.

Accurate fitting is an absolute necessity. Sufficient room at the lower end of the socket, and the placing of the ischial seat beneath the tuberosity are essential considerations. Some modification of the socket is usually required.

The number of patients who were unsuccessful suction-socket wearers for individual reasons does not detract from the practicability of employing this type of prosthesis in the majority of above-the-knee amputees.

The experience accummulated in the Los Angeles Veterans Administration Clinic indicates that, in the majority of cases, the above-the-knee amputee can, if adequate care is exercised,be fitted with a suction socket with a gratifying result.

The fitting of a suction-socket appliance requires even greater cooperation and investment of time by the patient, surgeon, and limb fitter than is demanded in the fitting of a conventional prosthesis.

In many individuals, hypertrophy of the muscles of the stump occurs, for these muscles are used to activate the prosthesis. The increase of stump circumference occasioned thereby may necessitate the construction of more than one socket before a final satisfactory fit is obtained.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Technorati    What's this?