Prosthetic restoration in patient with incomplete spinal cord injury

Abstract

We describe a case of 55-years-old man with a known T11 AIS C since 1985. The muscle strength of his left leg is better than the right leg and he is an active community ambulator. He walks using his right knee ankle foot orthosis without a knee lock. However, on April 2012 he had undergone a left transtibial amputation secondary to infected diabetic foot ulcer. He only had his first contact with rehabilitation team 2 months after the amputation and started on gait retraining since. Given the fact that he is a K3 level as he used to climb Batu Caves which is known to have 272 steps and he plans to continue this activity for his religious purposes, we prescribed him with prosthesis - patella tendon bearing socket, pin and lock suspension, silicone liner and energy storing foot. In conclusion, a community ambulator in dual disabilities, that is, spinal cord injury and amputee is hardly encountered due to multiple confounding factors. However, the right prosthetic prescription in patient with good prognosticating factors to ambulate will determine successful rehabilitation.

Paraplegia and transtibial amputation: successful ambulation after dual disability: a retrospective case report

“…They claimed that all six people learnt to walk in a way that would be expected by their spinal cord injuries but no details or gait outcomes measures were provided. A third case study by Mustafa et al 4 reported successfully fitting a person with incomplete paraplegia with a prosthesis for ambulation. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other similar reports of people with complete paraplegia and lower limb amputation achieving independent ambulation.…”