I have a patient who is a congenital amputee. The patient lacked a tibia
and the surgeon relocated the fibula between the condyles, and subsequently
amputated the foot, but attached the calcaneous to the end of the
fibula. The limb is long – 10 inches – and the patient has never had a
satisfactory fitting prosthesis. One of the major problems is that ROM of
the knee is limited to about 30 degrees, and the alignment of the femur
with the fibula changes from about 3 degrees of varus at full extension (30
degrees of flexion), to about 10 degrees of valgus a full flexion (60
degrees of flexion). Joints and a corset have been the usual solution, due
to knee instability, but of course this isn’t working well because of the
rotation in the frontal plane of the fibula relative to the femur during
gait. Has anyone successfully fitted a patient like this? Thanks!
Ed Neumann
Edward S. Neumann, PhD, PE, CP
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Box 454015
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV 89154-4015
PH: 702 895 1072
FAX 702 895 3936
