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Carbon fiber orthoses may improve activity performance after severe lower extremity trauma
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Although military service members with severe lower extremity injuries experienced limitations in measurable activity performance, additional rehabilitation with a carbon fiber orthosis may improve activity performance in this patient population, according to results published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma.
Researchers compared physical performance between military service members with lower extremity trauma resulting in limb salvage (n = 20) or unilateral transtibial amputation (n = 14) and uninjured actively training service members (n = 123) using four-square step, sit-to-stand 5 times and timed stair ascent tests. Researchers assessed patients in the limb salvage group with and without the use of a carbon fiber orthosis. They used associations between these lower extremity activity measures to determine the interrelationship of activity limitations.
Results showed the uninjured group had the fastest performance times and limb salvage patients assessed without a carbon fiber orthosis had the slowest performance times on all measures. Researchers found significantly slower mean performance on the four-square step test among patients not assessed with a carbon fiber orthosis vs. patients assessed with a carbon fiber orthosis. However, researchers observed no other significant differences in pairwise comparisons between the orthosis and no orthosis groups. Compared with uninured service member, performance was 71% slower among the transtibial amputation group, 100% in the carbon fiber orthosis group and 146% in the no carbon fiber orthosis group, according to results. In the tested patient populations, researchers observed correlations among the physical performance measures, particularly between the sit-to-stand and timed stair ascent tests. – by Casey Tingle
Disclosures: Wilken reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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