Article

Rehabilitation goals following major combat-associated limb loss in World War II
and the Vietnam war focused on treatment of the injury and a return to civilian
life. The goal for Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF)
servicemembers is to restore function to the greatest possible degree and, if
they desire, return them to Active Duty, by providing them with extensive
rehabilitation services and a variety of prosthetic devices. Our study determines
the usefulness of these diverse types of prosthetic devices for restoring
functional capability and documents prosthesis use and satisfaction. We compare
servicemembers and veterans with major combat-associated unilateral lower-limb
loss: 178 from the Vietnam war and 172 from OIF/OEF conflicts. Of survey
participants with unilateral lower-limb loss, 84% of the Vietnam group and 94% of
the OIF/OEF group currently use at least one prosthetic device. Reasons for
rejection varied by type of device, but common reasons were pain, prosthesis too
heavy, and poor fit. Abandonment is infrequent (11% Vietnam group, 4% OIF/OEF
group). Future efforts should aim to improve prosthetic-device design, decrease
pain, and improve quality of life for these veterans and servicemembers.

Langue : ANGLAIS