View clinical trials related to Amputation, Traumatic.
Filter by:In older adults, poor circulation in the lower extremities leads to serious health complications including limb loss. In addition, individuals with dysvascular disease also suffer from other co-morbidities like diabetes, coronary and cerebrovascular disease. An individual with a transfemoral (TF) amputation is usually fitted with a prosthetic limb to assist with function, including a prosthetic knee and a prosthetic foot. Currently, dysvascular amputees are given a prosthetic knee based on the basic expectation that they will be functionally stable. This consideration does not address higher levels of function like walking at multiple speeds and over uneven ground. Also, dysvascular amputees are not able to counteract their co-morbidities with a more active lifestyle. Walking is less energy efficient; their traditional prostheses may cause early onset of fatigue and induce a fear of falling. Newer microprocessor knees enable patients with transfemoral amputations to walk on different surfaces and at multiple cadences through better control in swing and stance phases of gait. The impact of the functional differences in the prostheses is not clear and requires additional investigation to clarify the choice of the most appropriate functional prosthesis. The purpose of this study is to compare the functional outcomes with the traditional mechanical knee versus the microprocessor knee (C-leg) in transfemoral amputees.
Background: Millions of people each year sustain injuries, have tumors surgically removed, or are born with defects that require complex reconstructive surgeries to repair. In the case of hand, forearm, or arm amputation, prostheses only provide less than optimal motor function and no sensory feedback. However, hand and arm transplantation is a means to restore the appearance, anatomy, and function of a native hand. Although over 70 hand transplants have been performed to date and good functional results have been achieved, widespread clinical use has been limited due to adverse effects of life-long and high-dose immunosuppression needed to prevent graft rejection. Risks include infection, cancer, and metabolic problems, all of which can greatly affect recipients' quality of life, make the procedure riskier, and jeopardize the potential benefits of hand transplantation. Study Design: This non-randomized, Phase II clinical trial will document the use of a new immunomodulatory protocol (aka - Pittsburgh Protocol, Starzl Protocol) for establishing hand transplantation as a safe and effective reconstructive treatment for upper extremity amputations by minimizing maintenance immunosuppression therapy in unilateral and bilateral hand/forearm transplant patients. This protocol combines lymphocyte depletion with donor bone marrow cell infusion and has enabled graft survival using low doses of a single immunosuppressive drug followed by weaning of treatment. Initially designed for living-related solid organ donation, this regimen has been adapted for use with grafts donated by deceased donors. The investigators propose to perform 30 human hand transplants employing this novel protocol. Specific Aims: 1) To establish hand transplantation as a safe and effective reconstructive strategy for the treatment of upper extremity amputations; 2) To reduce the risk of rejection and enable allograft survival while minimizing the requirement for long-term high dose multi-drug immunosuppression. Significance of Research: Hand transplantation could help upper extremity amputees recover functionality, self-esteem, and the capability to reintegrate into family and social life as "whole" individuals. The protocol offers the potential for minimizing the morbidity of maintenance immunosuppression, thereby beneficially shifting the risk/benefit ratio of this life-enhancing procedure and enabling widespread clinical application of hand transplantation.
Many people with a leg amputation have difficulty walking even after they have finished their rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to see if a large amount of walking practice on a treadmill can improve functional abilities.
Recent dysvascular and diabetic amputees as well as older, long-term traumatic amputees are at risk of functional decline, joint degeneration, skin breakdown and further limb loss due to the forces placed on the contralateral limb through prosthetic ambulation. If specialized prosthetic gait training and proper use of the appropriate prosthetic foot can decrease forces on the intact limb, the long term health and quality of life of veterans with amputations could be substantially improved. We will address two key questions: Key Question 1: After receiving specialized gait training and a new prosthetic socket, will subjects demonstrate differences in gait symmetry and external mechanical work between the bionic and conventional prosthetic feet, while performing various functional activities. Key Question 2: Can external mechanical work be used as a clinically friendly measure to differentiate between prosthetic feet?
Fingers amputations are very common injuries among the patients arriving at the Emergency Department. Fingertips amputations classified in 2nd and 3rd zones, in accordance with Rosenthal's classification (after the solum unguis), constitute a large proportion of them. The treatment aims at restoring a pulp with its sensitivity and a good subcutaneous fat tissue. The usual care of these amputations is a surgical treatment: it consists of pulp reconstruction by a flap (for example palmar V-Y advancement flaps of Atazoy). These technique involve hospital admission, brachial plexus anaesthesia, a surgical approach with cicatrix and donor site morbidities, postoperative cares, post-surgical pain management. And of course attention must be paid to the risks of postoperative complications related either to anaesthesia and/or to surgery, like necrosis, infection, and others. We have developed a nonoperative treatment for fingertips amputations: the occlusive dressing. It's a technique that has been known for about twenty years, and that is currently developed by the teams SOS main of Professor Liverneaux in Strasbourg and of Professor Obert in Besançon. It consists of the occlusive application of two Tegaderm®, a plastic dressing. Then the finger macerates in an anaerobic medium, and could develop an uncomfortable smell induced by maceration process. The first results described by the preclinical studies of these two groups look satisfying on both the functional aspect (sensibility) and the aesthetic component (preservation of the finger length and curve), as well as for healing that occurs without infection. Moreover, the length of the treatment is of about only three or four weeks, and its cost is very low by comparison with the cost of the surgery itself. Nevertheless this technique is still not very common, and it has been reported in only five references in the literature [Mennen & Al., Farrell & Al., Lee & Al., Allen & Al., Tago Hiroyuk & Al.]. On the other hand, the mechanism of action and/or the active components of this occlusive dressing have not yet been the objects of extended studies. An explanatory hypothesis is that some anaerobic germs and/or growth factors might play an active role in the process. However, they have not been identified yet. The aim of our study is to validate through clinical and biological criteria this non operative method and to compare with surgical treatment. The study will be held in the Hand Department of the University Hospital of Strasbourg, under the direction of the Pr Liverneaux. It will imply the collaboration of the laboratory of medical bacteriology directed by Pr Piemont, and the research department of INSERM (Parogène laboratory) will focus on the biochemistry. From a clinical point of view, a certain number of objective functional criteria will be measured: the pain will be evaluated by a visual analogic scale and the DN4 scale; the functional disability will be measured with the french version of the Disability Arm Shoulder Hand of Dubert; the pulpar 3D volume will be calculated from the numerical pictures with a computerized file, the cutaneous depth will be measured by 3D U.S; the tactile sensibility will be tested by standardized monofilaments and Weber's test and the dermatoglyphics of both handsides will be compared. In addition, the subjective feeling of the patients will be recorded through a visual and analogical scale of satisfaction. The purpose of the biological component of the study will be to put into light and to identify the components that are active in the process. This will be performed by the direct examination and by bacteriological cultures, and will look for the anaerobic, aerobic germs and the yeasts.The biochemical studies will first include a non specific search of growth factors, cytokines and interleukins. In a second step, specific researches will be undertaken if necessary in accordance with the results of the first investigations. By this study, the investigators would like to scientifically confirm the efficiency of this method with objective as well as subjective criteria, and to identify the underlying biomechanisms of the process.
Amputee gait produces periodic occlusion of residual limb blood vessels. During the stance phase of gait, body weight cause the prosthesis to compresses the soft tissue of the residual limb and occlude blood flow. This occlusion can be relieved during swing phase, but may depend on type of prosthesis. The purpose of the proposed research is to: (1) discover the range of tissue oxygenation in the intact and residual lower limbs of dysvascular amputees during gait and (2) to learn which of five different prosthetic limb systems provides greater tissue oxygenation.
The purpose of this randomized control study is to determine if administering neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to the thigh muscles of a below the knee amputee is more effective than the current standard of care in preserving thigh muscle strength. In addition, this study will examine the NMES treatment effects on the participant's gait, quality of life, functional performance of standing, walking, and stair climbing, and symptoms associated with residual and phantom limb pain. The primary aim is to compare NMES plus standard rehabilitation (treatment group) to the standard rehabilitation (control group) by measuring lower extremity muscle strength. The secondary aims are to compare NMES treatment group to the control group by measuring Quality of Life (QOL) and the symptoms associated with residual & phantom limb pain. In addition to the specific aims, this study will also examine the two groups for functional performance and gait patterns after prosthetic fitting.
The purpose of this study is to assess weight change in a population of Veterans with amputations. Little is known about the how weight changes following an amputation. It is widely believed that many patients experience weight gain following amputation. This study aims to identify magnitude of weight changes following amputation and determine characteristics associated with weight gain. Information on weight change trajectories would be useful to better understand long-term health consequences associated with amputation and to design and target interventions to encourage weight maintenance and general health promotion for groups at high risk of weight gain.
Amputees wearing a conventional prosthesis require 20-30% more metabolic energy to walk at the same speeds as non-amputees and this discrepancy is more apparent at faster walking speeds. Amputees choose to walk at speeds 30-40% slower than non-amputees. Preferred walking speed is likely influenced by elevated metabolic energy, but the underlying reason for slower preferred walking speeds is not fully understood. Unilateral amputees exhibit highly asymmetrical gait patterns that likely require more metabolic energy and impair functional mobility, increasing the risk of degenerative joint disease, osteo-arthritis and lower back pain. Improvements in prosthetic devices could enhance mobility in amputees, thus positively effecting rehabilitation and ambulation in veterans. A prosthesis that allows amputees to reduce metabolic energy would be especially useful for rehabilitation in older, ill individuals with reduced exercise capacities and could literally restore walking ability in people that are currently non-ambulatory. Hypotheses. Amputees wearing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Powered Ankle-Foot (PAF) prosthesis will have a lower metabolic cost, faster preferred walking speed, and improved gait symmetry during walking than amputees wearing a conventional prosthesis and will have nearly the same metabolic cost, preferred walking speed, and gait symmetry during walking as age, gender, height, and weight matched non-amputees.
Overall Goal To establish hand transplantation as a safe and effective reconstructive strategy for the treatment of upper extremity amputations. Specific Aim To reduce the risk of rejection and enable allograft survival while minimizing the requirement for long term high dose immunosuppression. For this purpose, we propose to utilize the "Pittsburgh Protocol", which is an immunomodulatory strategy that has been implemented in solid organ transplants at UPMC. Early results in living related liver and kidney patients have confirmed that this protocol provides the means to allow graft survival with minimization of maintenance immunosuppression and even allows weaning of some patients from long-term immunosuppression.We hypothesize that a similar protocol can enable graft survival in highly immunogenic composite tissue allografts like hand transplants while reducing the number,dosing and/or frequency of immunosuppressive drugs associated with serious adverse effects.