Hello All,
I have a strange question for the list. First,let me say that this isn’t a
joke or a hypothetical situation. I have a patient that presents as a standard
new AK amputee. All the regular issues are present (edema,mild
contractures,muscle atrophy). The patient is a short(4-5 inches) AK with alot of excess
tissue due to his 275lb weight situation. The patient isn’t the perfect candidate
but everyone deserves a good chance at prosthetic wear. He is mid 40’s and has
expected health problems from being overweight and the victim of a MVA that
caused his ampuation.
The issues that I am kinda stratching my head about is the fact that the man
has lived his entire life with his testicles residing in the scarpas area of
the amputated side. I understand about the condition that leaves the male parts
undecended but ,how is prosthetic wear even possible with the location of
their current position inside the future site of the AK socket. I first thought
of all the different options and began designing my way around the parts until,
the AK shrinker was found to place so much compression on that area that it
was clear that the only shrinking would be via another route. I found a
suitable alternative but,if a simple AK shrinker gives this much hassle,what in the
world will a prosthesis do?
Has anyone had this type of problem and if so,what did you do? I consider
myself to be creative and reasonably equipt to handle most O&P problems,but this
is a new one for me. I repeat,this isn’t a joke and yes I did ask why he never
had this taken care of. I suspect he is a form of hermaphrodite with no
gender reassignment ever taking place. This is of course just a guess and the
physician is no help at this point.
Any solutions,thought or good guesses would be appreciated.Thanks in advance.
-Brian Moore CPO
