Article

Prosthetic management of children with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency.

Motion Analysis Laboratory, Shriners Hospital for Children, 950 West Faris Road, Greenville, SC 29601, USA.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (impact factor: 3.27). 07/2006; 88(6):1294-300. DOI:10.2106/JBJS.E.00982 pp.1294-300
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT There is substantial controversy concerning the prosthetic management of children with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency. The optimal age at the time of the initial fitting, the value of intensive prosthetic training, and the preferred prosthetic design for these children have not been established.
The outcomes of prosthetic management for 260 children with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency, treated between 1954 and 2004, were analyzed with respect to ongoing clinic attendance and self-reported prosthetic use. A successful prosthetic outcome was defined as a child and parents who continued to attend the limb-deficiency clinic and claimed at the time of the most recent follow-up that the prosthesis had been worn for any period of time. An unsuccessful prosthetic outcome was defined as a child and parents who were lost to follow-up or who claimed at the time of the most recent follow-up that the child never wore the prosthesis. Survival analysis was performed.
An unsuccessful prosthetic outcome was noted for 127 children (49%). Initial fitting prior to the age of three years was associated with improved prosthetic outcome (p < 0.001). With the numbers studied, there was no additional benefit noted for fitting before one year of age (p = 0.60). Improved prosthetic outcomes were noted in children who had received intensive training at the time of fitting with an active terminal device (p = 0.005). Provision of a variety of prosthetic designs over the growing years was also associated with improved prosthetic outcome (p < 0.001).
This study supports the initial prosthetic fitting for a child with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency prior to the age of three years, the provision of intensive training under the direction of an occupational therapist when an active terminal device is applied, and utilization of a variety of prosthetic designs over the child's years of growth. Further analysis of outcomes for the prosthetic management of these children will require more precise definitions of outcome in multiple domains and the development and validation of specific outcome instruments.

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    Article: Age at first prosthetic fitting and later functional outcome in children and young adults with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency: a cross-sectional study.
    Karin Huizing, Heleen Reinders-Messelink, Carel Maathuis, Mijna Hadders-Algra, Corry K van der Sluis
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether prosthetic fitting before the age of one year is associated with better outcomes in children with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency compared to children fitted after the age of one. Twenty subjects aged 6-21 years were recruited (five prosthetic users and 15 non-users). The Child Amputee Prosthetics Project-Prosthesis Satisfactory Inventory (CAPP-PSI) and the Prosthetic Upper Extremity Functional Index (PUFI) were used to assess patient satisfaction and functional use of the prosthesis. Videotapes were used to assess motor performance. Initial prosthetic fitting before one year of age was related to use of a prosthesis for at least four years. Age at first fitting was not associated with satisfaction with the prosthesis, functional use of the prosthesis or motor skills. Discrepancies between ease of performance with prosthesis and usefulness of the prosthesis as well as between capacity and performance of activities were found. The video assessments showed impaired movement adaptation to some tasks in six subjects. In conclusion, early prosthetic fitting seems to have a limited impact on prosthesis use during later stages of life.
    Prosthetics & Orthotics International 03/2010; 34(2):166-74. · 0.56 Impact Factor
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Keywords

active terminal device
 
additional benefit
 
child's years
 
growing years
 
initial fitting
 
initial prosthetic fitting
 
intensive prosthetic training
 
intensive training
 
multiple domains
 
ongoing clinic attendance
 
optimal age
 
preferred prosthetic design
 
prosthetic designs
 
prosthetic management
 
prosthetic outcome
 
self-reported prosthetic use
 
specific outcome instruments
 
successful prosthetic outcome
 
unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency
 
unsuccessful prosthetic outcome