Evaluation of the NU-FlexSIV Socket for Persons with Transfemoral Amputation: Interim Results

摘要

Current standard-of-care ischial containment (IC) sockets for transfemoral amputees (TFA) fit intimately with the ischium (Schuch and Pritham, 1999), limiting hip motion (Hagberg et al., 2005) and contributing to socket discomfort (Dillingham et al., 2001; Pezzin et al., 2004). Sub-ischial sockets, such as the newly described Northwestern University Flexible Sub-lschial Vacuum (NU-FlexSIV) Socket technique (Fatone and Caldwell, 2017a), do not interact with the ischium, potentially increasing hip motion and comfort. While two published cases demonstrate that the NU-FlexSIV Socket has the potential to improve comfort with comparable functional outcomes compared to the IC socket (Fatone and Caldwell, 2017b), further evaluation is needed. Hence, the purpose of this clinical trial was to compare comfort and functional performance with the NU-FlexSIV and IC sockets in persons with unilateral TFA.