Sternum plate

Sternum plate

rick

7/12/2005

Dear List Serve,

Here are all of the replies I have received to date:

I had a college-age athlete this past spring that had a significant part
of her sternum removed, and some type of synthetic material wired back
in it's place. She played volleyball and basketball for her school and
was in need of a protective orthosis to wear during these higher risk
activities. We came up with a design similar to a warm-n-form LSO
type of approach, using a custom-made sports bra with a pocket for the
protective insert. We had the custom sports bra made by a company
that makes Lycra, orthotic soft goods, and used one of her own sports
bras as a pattern. We then used an existing, foam-backed LSO insert
cut to the size and shape we needed, then heated and molded to fit
comfortably. This seemed to work very well as she requested we make
three more right away. Hopefully this will help, good luck! ..........

I have made a custom sternal plate out of Kydex and have used both rib
belts
and elastic binders to hold it in place. None off the shelf that I
know of.

I've made only one. I molded low-temp plastic to the sternum area,
padded
it with Aliplast and made shoulder straps to hold it in place. The girl
was
~ 9 years old. It worked well.

I may be the only reply you get regarding a Sternal Vest. I have
invented a Sternal Compression vest used specifically for Sternectomy's
following Cardiac surgery. It is a compression vest which we also pack
with soft foam over the sternum for compression and protection. They
are really the only thing out there for this specific diagnosis. Call
me if you have an interest.

You could cast and fabricate a custom sternal plate. If you want to get
fancy you could use a Freeman posture support for the posterior superior
suspension.

I have made a sternal chest protection orthosis for a newborn that was
born without a sternum. A shield type copoly shell with a buildup for
the sternum was fabricated for the anterior chest and a neoprene vest
attached with Velcro was used to keep it in place. This worked very well
for our pt. I can send pictures if you are interested. I have also
heard of using a life vest if this is temporary.

Thanks to all who replied, I appreciate everyone taking the time to
respond.

Sincerely,

Rick Stapleton, CP, BOCO