Thoughts on Knees Suitable for a Knee Disarticulation Runner

Thoughts on Knees Suitable for a Knee Disarticulation Runner

McIntyre, Charles

4/14/2006

Dear List,

 

I have a patient who has taken a strong interest in running the last few
years. He is a well conditioned 39 y.o., 190lb., male knee
disarticulation amputee, and he has finished very competitively in both
10K and Half Marathons. His goal is to move onto Marathons and
Triathalons. His current setup is an Ossur T2100 knee (not on
recall,yet) on top of an Ossur Flex Run Blade. Problem is, the knee
keeps breaking down (hydraulic swing control failure) and I need to send
it back every 12 weeks for repair, then deal with putting him on loaner
knees that are as useless as old Helium balloons. Perhaps our Hydraulic
Valve settings are putting too much stress on the knee; but if I don't
put him where he feels balanced and in rhythm, then he is
unsatisfied. These failures have occurred with and without the use of an
internal extension assist. Ossur has offered suggestions and assistance,
but mostly in vain.

 

What are your patients running on? Are the setups more reliable than
ours? Do these patients need two running legs?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Charles McIntyre, C.P.O.

U.C. San Francisco