Unweighting Orthosis
Description
Collection
Title:
Unweighting Orthosis
Date:
1/17/2006
Text:
To the List,
As I am sure is the case for most members of the list, I receive frequent requests to cancel the law of gravity. A majority of the time this involves providing an orthosis to remove weight from the ankle/foot. Usually the request is for a PTBO or Calf-corset type of AFO. Once in a (fortunately) long while, the request is for an ischial weight bearing orthosis with all the bells and whistles (including patten bottom, locking knee joints etc.) I have found the calf corset design to be the lesser of all these evils. Few patients find any of these orthoses tolerable, and the “antigravity effect” of these designs is, in my opinion, at best debatable and at worst nonexistent.
I am looking for alternative approaches to this problem (besides a wheelchair) that will allow bipedal ambulation while significantly reducing the amount of weight passing through the ankle/foot complex. If any of you have alternative ideas or designs, please let me know. I will send a digest to the list.
Yours in the Pursuit,
Harry Phillips, CPO
Triangle Orthopaedic Associates, P.A.,O&P Dept
120 William Penn Plaza
Durham, NC 27704
Phone (919) 281-1814 Fax (919) 281-1877
<Email Address Redacted>
As I am sure is the case for most members of the list, I receive frequent requests to cancel the law of gravity. A majority of the time this involves providing an orthosis to remove weight from the ankle/foot. Usually the request is for a PTBO or Calf-corset type of AFO. Once in a (fortunately) long while, the request is for an ischial weight bearing orthosis with all the bells and whistles (including patten bottom, locking knee joints etc.) I have found the calf corset design to be the lesser of all these evils. Few patients find any of these orthoses tolerable, and the “antigravity effect” of these designs is, in my opinion, at best debatable and at worst nonexistent.
I am looking for alternative approaches to this problem (besides a wheelchair) that will allow bipedal ambulation while significantly reducing the amount of weight passing through the ankle/foot complex. If any of you have alternative ideas or designs, please let me know. I will send a digest to the list.
Yours in the Pursuit,
Harry Phillips, CPO
Triangle Orthopaedic Associates, P.A.,O&P Dept
120 William Penn Plaza
Durham, NC 27704
Phone (919) 281-1814 Fax (919) 281-1877
<Email Address Redacted>
Citation
“Unweighting Orthosis,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/226092.
