OBJECTIVE To characterize biomechanical differences in gait between dogs with and without an amputated thoracic limb. ANIMALS Client-owned dogs (16 thoracic-limb amputee and 24 quadruped [control] dogs). PROCEDURES Dogs were trotted across 3 in-series force platforms. Spatial kinematic and kinetic data were recorded for each limb during the stance phase. RESULTS Amputees had significant i...

Phantom motor execution (PME), facilitated by myoelectric pattern recognition (MPR) and virtual reality (VR), is positioned to be a viable option to treat phantom limb pain (PLP). A recent clinical trial using PME on upper-limb amputees with chronic intractable PLP yielded promising results. However, further work in the area of signal acquisition is needed if such technology is to be used on su...

There is no published literature detailing the demographics of paediatric amputations in the United Kingdom. We performed this review of children and adolescents referred to a regional limb-fitting centre from the 1930s to the current decade who suffered amputation as a result of trauma, and compared our data with similar cohorts from other units. Of the 93 patients included, only 11 were injur...

PURPOSE To develop a valid measure of lower limb amputee mobility suitable for routine clinical use, including monitoring change. METHODS The Special Interest Group in Amputee Medicine (SIGAM) described a single-item scale comprising six clinical grades (A-F) of amputee mobility. A self-report questionnaire was developed and algorithm designed to facilitate grade assignment. Reproducibility o...

Outcome measures are becoming increasingly important in health care. Functional outcome measures are of particular importance for lower limb amputees since much of the rehabilitation process is concerned with increasing mobility and personal independence. The Scottish Physiotherapy Amputee Research Group (SPARG) has used three measures of functional outcome: the Barthel Index, Russek's classifi...

INTRODUCTION Femoral neck fractures are a common occurrence in lower limb amputees. Good post-operative results of hip hemiarthroplasty have been described in below-knee amputees. However, to our knowledge, very few such cases have been reported in above-knee amputees. CASE REPORT We present a case of a 75-year-old male patient who underwent above-knee amputation of the right lower limb for s...

In able-bodied individuals, the ankle joint functions to provide shock absorption, aid in foot clearance during the swing phase, and provides a rocker mechanism during stance phase to facilitate forward progression of the body. Prosthetic ankles currently used by persons with lower limb amputations provide considerably less function than their anatomical counterparts. However, increased ankle m...

BACKGROUND T44 sprinting with an amputation is still in a state of relative infancy. Future scope for athletic training and prosthetic limb development may be assisted with a better understanding of information derived from T44 athletes when under race-based conditions. OBJECTIVES To investigate the behaviour of step count and step frequency when under competitive conditions. STUDY DESIGN T...