Responses to my question on durability of VASS Suspension Sleeves

Responses to my question on durability of VASS Suspension Sleeves

Keith E. Vinnecour CPO

Yes, we've had the same problem of poor durability with every patient that
we've used the TEC Prolink sleeve on. In our experience at CPO, the fix is
one of the following, :
1. One of my more resourceful patients came up with this one. Have the
patient cut off a piece of a discarded Prolink sleeve (he probably has a
pile of them) and place the cutoff piece inside a new undamaged sleeve in the
area(s) that typically sustain(s) most of the wear. If the polyurethane of
the piece of old sleeve is mated to polyurethane interior of the new sleeve,
they will stick together and serve to reinforce the new sleeve,
significantly reducing wear . The downside, of course, is that the sleeve
is now bulkier. I have passed this trick onto Carl Caspers who acknowledged
that he had heard the same suggestion from a prosthetist in Florida as well.
2 The better option is to request that TEC fabricate a sleeve with a band
of the Prolink fabric 14 cm.wide on the interior of the Prolink sleeve--much
like was done for the old neoprene sleeves to reduce wear. This has
virtually eliminated problems with wear of the Prolink sleeves. I have
groused to TEC, saying this is how the sleeves should be provided instead of
us having to special order them this way and wait several days for them to
retrofit the reinforcement into the sleeves.

I have personally used the sleeve protector with the TEC prolink and found it

helps tremendously. with the VASS system you can also reduce the height of
the trim lines and that along with fine finishing the brim will get me at
least 6 months wear out of a suspension sleeve.
I fine finish the brim by first wet sanding with 400 grit then coat the
edge with Super glue. The final step is to wet sand the edge lightly with 600

grit. The goal is to cover any glass or carbon fibers in the edge that will
eat up the sleeve.

We are using the 3mm sleeve from Alps, we order through SPS, in lieu of the
TEC sleeve. Patient satisfaction is much greater, due primarily too greater
flexibility, and what seems to be greater durability. Another source for
info is Ron Kidd CPO in Columbus Ohio, who started me using the Alps sleeve.

Hope this finds you well. Take care!

I've tried TEC's Suspension Sleeves and discontinued their use because of
durability. I tend to use Silipose HD Sleeves now; they're very inexpensive
and they seem to hold up pretty well. I know a lot of prosthetists in my
area are using the Alps suspension sleeve; it's pretty durable and works well
but it's thick and bulky.

Keith we have had the same problems. The only way that I have been able to
extend the life of the suspension sleeves is by trimming back the socket
ears. During knee flexion, the ears can get very prominent under the sleeve
and very prone to cutting the sleeve over those sharp carbon edges

Try the Alps fabric covered suspension sleeves. They last.....

I respond to your concerns on the listserve regarding suspension sleeves. We
have also had issues with breakdown of trans tibial suspension sleeves with
our amputees. Given we buy them with our struggling dollar at inflated prices
we decided to have some manufactured for us locally with a different type of
neoprene and different thickness. To date our trial sleeves have lasted six
months with some signs of wear but not worn out. Prior to this we have had
them wear out in a few weeks in some cases. If you are interested I could
have one sent over for trial in a few weeks. I would need a size and style of
the sleeve the patient is wearing. We are hopeful of having these distributed
in the USA this year once the rest of our trial is complete. If you have any
leeds to this end I would be interested.

have you tried leather trimming the proximal edge of socket.

We have done about 50 VASS systems. We gave up on their suspension sleeve,
and went to the Alps 3mm silicone sleeve. We usually do it in a double wall
when we can. Sleeve life is about 8-12 months

Are there any good sleeves with no vertical stretch??? That last more than
a couple of weeks?? That I can get paid for??? My patients used to love the
Endurance sleeve from Ossur, but the new one is crap. And it cost more than
my reimbursement...


I've had the best results using the Alps EZ sleeve

Please let me know what results you get regarding your question of VASS
and sleeve breakdown. I am doing my residency research program on the
system...and if you like I will also share my results with you. At this
point it does some that there are some unbelievably great benefits to the
system...if only some of the kinks could be worked out.


Keith