While more orthotists than prosthetists report that their practice involves pediatric care (according to the 2022 ABC Practice Analysis of Certified Practitioners in the Disciplines of Orthotics and Prosthetics, it’s 48 percent and 13 percent, respectively), it still represents a specialty within the profession—with challenges and opportunities unique to patients who are constantly growing and changing. This month, we explore interventions for two conditions in which care is most often initiated in early childhood, proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD) and cerebral palsy (CP).
Because PFFD, in which the child is born with a shortened or missing femur, is rare, occurring in just one of every 100,000 births, even clinicians specializing in pediatrics may never encounter a patient with the condition. Although several clinicians we spoke with say that their practices located near major children’s hospital systems and the fact that the condition presents on a wide spectrum of severity means treating patients with PFFD is not as uncommon as the statistics may indicate. In “Tailoring Treatment Across the Gamut of PFFD Presentation,” these practitioners explain the range of interventions to help these young patients thrive—options that may evolve as children grow.
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