“Is it safe to drive while wearing a cast?” Kurt Rongstad, MD, says this is probably the most common question he is asked by the 300-400 patients per year who have a right foot fitted with a cast or orthotic boot at his practice. And now, thanks to preliminary results in his own research, the assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Medicine, Madison, has an answer: “No.”
According to the Sentinel News Service, the foot-and-ankle specialist and a student assistant tested 42 participants in a driving simulator, having them depress the faux gas pedal, then, when a light flashed, move to the brake and press it. According to the news service, when participants wore either a low or high cam walker on the right foot, this process took them about 25 percent longer than when they were wearing regular shoes. Wedge-type orthopedic shoes-the type commonly used after bunion surgery-provided less of a disadvantage. Rongstad has concluded that cam walkers increase braking time so much that driving with one is unsafe. He was quoted as saying, “Clearly and statistically, we found that braking time was inferior with the high or short-leg cam walker…. [Driving] is one of the biggest concerns when people are making their postoperative plans. They want to know how long they’ll need a chauffeur to haul them around.”
Rongstad and his assistant, Sarnarendra Miranpuri, a fourth-year student at the university, also tested participants’ ability to drive using the left foot. Left-footed driving proved to be quicker than driving in a cast, but Rongstad concluded it wasn’t a safe option either.
“I tried driving myself to work and back with my left foot and it was really distracting-like trying to drive while talking on a cell phone,” Rongstad told the news service. “Driving is so multifactorial. We drive 90 percent with our brains and ten percent with our bodies.”
Rongstad plans to repeat the study with an improved simulator being developed by a UW colleague, then submit his findings to a medical journal.
