Researchers in the United Kingdom have developed a preoperative
scoring tool that predicts the probability of a person’s ability to walk with a
prosthetic limb after a lower-limb amputation. The study, published online May
12 in Disability and Rehabilitation, says
that the tool is simple to administer and could be useful in clinical practice
to inform expectations for patients and clinicians.
To begin development of the tool, a retrospective review of
338 patients who had undergone lower-limb amputations was conducted to identify
characteristics that affected the success of rehabilitation with a prosthetic limb.
The data was used to create the assessment tool, called the BLARt score that
was then tested and validated in 199 patients prior to their lower-limb
amputations in two centers in the United Kingdom. Functional rehabilitation
outcomes were recorded at 12 months after surgery using the Special Interest
Group in Amputee Medicine (SIGAM) mobility grading.
The results indicated that no patient with a BLARt score of 13
or greater achieved a good functional outcome (defined as independent mobility
or SIGAM grade E or F). Only six patients with a BLARt score of 17 or greater achieved
any functional outcome (defined as any ability to walk unaided or SIGAM grade C
or greater).
The researchers concluded that, in the patient cohorts
studied, the BLARt assessment tool was a strong predictor of whether patients
would be able to walk using a prosthetic limb.
