Re: Optimal BK stump length
Chris L Johnson
Description
Collection
Title:
Re: Optimal BK stump length
Creator:
Chris L Johnson
Date:
1/31/1999
Text:
On Sat, 30 Jan 1999 19:06:48 -0500 bradley wheaton < <Email Address Redacted> >
writes:
>Hey everyone,
>Chris makes an excellent point. Thank god text books or lenghth
>limits were not used in my case!... I have only 3 inches of bone below
the knee and 2 inches
>of muscle and tissue which serve somewhat of a cushion below that. My
stump
>is 90% skin grafted. Luckily for me my attending surgeon disagreed
with
>the panel who thought best to take my knee...
>Bradley
Bradley, your story gives credence to the complexity of this issue! You
agreed with me in principle, but the examples I gave might lead to an
opposite conclusion.
If I were in your situation, knowing what I know now, I might chose to be
a knee disartic without iscial (hope I spelled that right) weight bearing
socket to get a tough full weight bearing end. The downside is losing
direct active control of the knee. But many a surgeon and prothetist
alike would say AK would be better that KD (knee disarticulation) to get
clearance for knee components! So yes indeed, this is a complex issue
fraught with many an opinion!
I watched a book review interview on TV last night about a lawyer who
wrote a book saying that the law has become a tyranny in the U.S.,
because the law or rules attempt to define everything to cover all
situations before they happen. Like the debacle of suspending a student
for possesing aspirin in school because the rules say it is a drug. All
of us know of at least some stupid government rules, like having to ship
MSD sheets for all chemicals, etc, or posted warnings about how not to
eat the toner from copying machines. The folly of such an approach is
that it sacrifices personal responsibility and common sense for rigid
procedure. Perhaps the text book approach to surgical and prosthetic
issues is somewhat the same way. It is simply impossible to define a
specific solution, such as limb length, and have it work in all
circumstances. I don't believe a stand against rigidity goes against
establishing sound principles that evolve as our understanding evolves.
That was probably the purpose of the original post anyway!
Chris Johnson, Engineering Director,
College Park Industries, Inc.
<Email Address Redacted>
www.college-park.com
writes:
>Hey everyone,
>Chris makes an excellent point. Thank god text books or lenghth
>limits were not used in my case!... I have only 3 inches of bone below
the knee and 2 inches
>of muscle and tissue which serve somewhat of a cushion below that. My
stump
>is 90% skin grafted. Luckily for me my attending surgeon disagreed
with
>the panel who thought best to take my knee...
>Bradley
Bradley, your story gives credence to the complexity of this issue! You
agreed with me in principle, but the examples I gave might lead to an
opposite conclusion.
If I were in your situation, knowing what I know now, I might chose to be
a knee disartic without iscial (hope I spelled that right) weight bearing
socket to get a tough full weight bearing end. The downside is losing
direct active control of the knee. But many a surgeon and prothetist
alike would say AK would be better that KD (knee disarticulation) to get
clearance for knee components! So yes indeed, this is a complex issue
fraught with many an opinion!
I watched a book review interview on TV last night about a lawyer who
wrote a book saying that the law has become a tyranny in the U.S.,
because the law or rules attempt to define everything to cover all
situations before they happen. Like the debacle of suspending a student
for possesing aspirin in school because the rules say it is a drug. All
of us know of at least some stupid government rules, like having to ship
MSD sheets for all chemicals, etc, or posted warnings about how not to
eat the toner from copying machines. The folly of such an approach is
that it sacrifices personal responsibility and common sense for rigid
procedure. Perhaps the text book approach to surgical and prosthetic
issues is somewhat the same way. It is simply impossible to define a
specific solution, such as limb length, and have it work in all
circumstances. I don't believe a stand against rigidity goes against
establishing sound principles that evolve as our understanding evolves.
That was probably the purpose of the original post anyway!
Chris Johnson, Engineering Director,
College Park Industries, Inc.
<Email Address Redacted>
www.college-park.com
Citation
Chris L Johnson, “Re: Optimal BK stump length,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 24, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/211148.
