Plantar pressures with total contact casting.

Total contact casting has been used to aid in the healing of plantar neurotrophic ulcerations. The efficacy of total contact casts in promoting ulcer healing is presumably due to a reduction in the load over high pressure areas with pressure redistribution over the entire surface of the foot. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effectiveness of total contact casting in reducing plantar pressures. A portable microprocessor-based data-acquisition system was used for recording plantar pressures. Plantar pressures were collected from six nondisabled individuals with and without total contact casting at cast-walking cadence. In our study, there was a decrease in plantar loading under the metatarsal heads (first, fourth, fifth), the great toe, and the heel. The average decrease was 32% under the fifth metatarsal, 63% under the fourth metatarsal, 69% under the first metatarsal, 65% under the great toe, and 45% under the heel. Our study quantitatively showed that total contact casting does reduce vertical plantar pressures in high load areas.