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Prosthetist Discusses Life After Receiving a New Limb
Author: | Friday February 24, 2006
Dan Zenas, C.P. of Georgia Prosthetics discusses life after receiving a new artificial limb.
By Dan Zenas, Certified Prosthetist
What Can One Expect From Their New Limb?
Question: My husband is a recent amputee (below knee) and used to be very active in sports. while he is thinking of returning to golf and the basketball court, he is also worried that he could injure himself or damage his new prosthesis. What advice do you have?
Dan Zenas, C.P.: There are many factors and variables that impact the functional results when someone initially learns to use a prosthesis.
This then makes it difficult to answer a new amputee who asks “ will I be able to golf again?” or “will I be able to play basketball with my kids?” The goal of prosthetic rehabilitation is to remove barriers and reduce the limitations that the prosthesis can cause.
A person’s overall health and strength will impact his or her ability to successfully use a lower extremity prosthesis more than any other factor.
An elderly lady who lost her leg below the knee due to vascular problems once told me that when she would get her prosthesis, all she really wanted to do is walk to the end of her driveway to get her mail. I asked her if she was able to do that before the amputation, and she said that she hadn’t been able to walk that far for a couple of years. Walking with a prosthesis is a physical activity, and physical ability is needed for success.
Level of Amputation a Factor
The second influential factor is the level of amputation. It is self evident that someone with an amputation below the knee will be more active than someone with an amputation above the knee, assuming all other variables are equal. The more joints that are lost due to amputation, the more complex the prosthesis becomes, and the more difficult it becomes to use.
It also takes significantly more energy and stress with a higher level amputation. There can be times when someone’s cardiac condition is severe enough, combined with a high amputation level, or bilateral amputations, that using a prosthesis can actually endanger his life.
Amputation is not only physically traumatic but emotionally traumatic as well. How well a person emotionally adjusts to it can dramatically impact functional outcomes. People deal with crisis and grief with the same dynamics and habits that they deal with smaller stresses and conflicts.
A person who is emotionally healthy will heal better than someone who is not. Cause of amputation influences the amount of stress that can result from the amputation itself.
For instance, the suddenness of losing a leg in a motorcycle accident can be more emotionally devastating than losing a leg due to vascular insufficiency following multiple operations such as femoral bypasses, grafts, toe and partial foot amputations. In this second case, the person can have the opportunity to anticipate the amputation and even have a sense of control by being able to schedule the procedure, whereas in the traumatic instance, the persons life is changed in an instant.
It is only after evaluating the physical ability and desires of the amputee that an appropriate prosthetic design can be developed for an individual with a particular amputation level.
The componentry selected needs to be appropriate to the amputees needs at the present time. For example, it may be difficult for somenone to learn to use a complicated hydraulic knee if he has not yet learned the basic mechanics of walking with a prosthesis for an above the knee amputation.
As his needs change and his ability progresses, the design can change with him to speed his recovery and achieve the most positive outcome.
Minimize the Limitations
What should a new amputee expect to be able to do once he or she gets a prosthesis? It depends. As a prosthetist, my goal is to minimize the limitations arising from the prosthesis so that the person can perform to the maximum of his physical and emotional ability.
Ed. Note: Dan Zenas, C.P. is owner and operator of Georgia Prosthetics, Inc. of Atlanta. He can be reached by calling 404-873-3725.
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