Mobile Traction
McKale, Sean
Description
Collection
Title:
Mobile Traction
Creator:
McKale, Sean
Date:
9/9/2020
Text:
Dear Colleagues,
For those of us that help to set-up mobile traction units for pediatric patient's I am interested in knowing if and what scale you may be using? For those not familiar we place pediatric patients in HALO rings with attached traction bales to provide sustained traction prior to fusion, goal being to stretch out soft tissue . We use bed rales attached vertically behind the chair and a shorter horizontal bar that the scale attaches on. Typically this may occur for 1-2 months prior to surgery and the patient will transfer from WC to bed traction units. I have had one patient in traction for a period of almost a year. Generally if the Orthopedic doctors continue to see improvements in reduction of pain, improved neurologic function, improved pulmonary function, and reduction of curve magnitude they will continue with the course of treatment for as long as possible. Other times it is more prescriptive in that we will do this for X amount of time and then fuse.
The scale that we had been using is no longer being manufactured. For us it has been a challenge to find one that is both short enough as vertical space above the WC is often limited. I have been hesitant to use a digital scale as the monitoring of the weight pull will only happen when turned on, where the analog scales give a constant number. The patient's posture affects the amount of pull so it is something you want to have an eye on.
Any other feedback on your experiences with mobile traction would be appreciated?
Thank you.
Sean
Sean McKale, CO
For those of us that help to set-up mobile traction units for pediatric patient's I am interested in knowing if and what scale you may be using? For those not familiar we place pediatric patients in HALO rings with attached traction bales to provide sustained traction prior to fusion, goal being to stretch out soft tissue . We use bed rales attached vertically behind the chair and a shorter horizontal bar that the scale attaches on. Typically this may occur for 1-2 months prior to surgery and the patient will transfer from WC to bed traction units. I have had one patient in traction for a period of almost a year. Generally if the Orthopedic doctors continue to see improvements in reduction of pain, improved neurologic function, improved pulmonary function, and reduction of curve magnitude they will continue with the course of treatment for as long as possible. Other times it is more prescriptive in that we will do this for X amount of time and then fuse.
The scale that we had been using is no longer being manufactured. For us it has been a challenge to find one that is both short enough as vertical space above the WC is often limited. I have been hesitant to use a digital scale as the monitoring of the weight pull will only happen when turned on, where the analog scales give a constant number. The patient's posture affects the amount of pull so it is something you want to have an eye on.
Any other feedback on your experiences with mobile traction would be appreciated?
Thank you.
Sean
Sean McKale, CO
Citation
McKale, Sean, “Mobile Traction,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/255217.
