title: Benefits of early prosthetic management of transtibial amputees: a prospective clinical study of a prefabricated prosthesis.
abstract: To evaluate the use of an immediate postoperative prosthesis (IPOP) for transtibial amputees, we compared patient outcomes from a prospective clinical study of 19 patients managed with an IPOP with those of a retrospective review of a matched historic control group of 23 patients managed with standard soft dressings. Data were analyzed with the Student's t-test, and significance was set at P = 0.05. The IPOP patients had no surgical revisions, whereas the patients with standard soft dressings had 11. This was a significant difference. IPOP patients also had significantly fewer postoperative complications and shorter times to custom prosthesis than did controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA. lync@helix.org
authors.forename: Lew C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Schon
authors.forename: Kelly W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Short
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Soupiou
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noll
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rheinstein
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000671:Amputation, Surgical / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013977:Tibia / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking