A study published online July 16 in the journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics International tested how activity, time of day, and intermittent doffing affected residual limb fluid volume in people with transtibial amputations.
Thirteen participants with transtibial amputations completed three six-hour test sessions. Two sessions served as controls (A protocol) during which participants left their prostheses donned, and one session was an intervention (B protocol) where participants doffed their prostheses twice for 20 minutes during the six hours of testing. Within-socket fluid volume was measured using a custom portable bioimpedance analysis system.
The study found that the rate of limb fluid volume loss was higher early in the session compared with late in the session. Participants experienced less fluid volume loss during high activity than low activity. Socket users with pin suspension experienced less posterior fluid volume loss when they intermittently doffed their prosthesis, the study found. Intermittent doffing did not benefit limb fluid volume of mechanical vacuum and suction suspension users.
