Hello oandp subscribers,
I’m currently fitting a long term, very short transfemoral amputee who
functions effectively as a hip disartic. He has been wearing an
interesting hybrid of a prosthesis with a cut down socket and an external
hip joint/pelvic band for stability and suspension, and is now keen to
try something new. My main concern is that he has been functioning well
without a prosthetic hip joint for fourty years and slides out of the
back of the socket when he wants to sit down, so if I put him into a
conventional socket or try to ‘lock’ the socket to his pelvis he may have
reduced function rather than increased.
I plan to try fitting a diagonal type socket of a flexible
thermoplastic, hip joint and free knee joint.
Has anyone any advice on socket design, materials and components that
may be trialed?
Thanks in advance
Rowan English
Clinical Manager, Prosthetics and Orthotics
Ballarat Health Services
Ballarat, Australia
