Orthotic Management of the Mangled Extremity

Even after the successful surgical salvage of a mangled extremity, patients may be left with functional deficits which require an orthosis to help them return to their daily activities and work. Upper and lower extremity trauma patients often present with weakness, instability, contractures, fractures, and pain. Treatment objectives in such cases may include limiting the range of motion across targeted joint segments, positioning the joint in a desired alignment, mechanically assisting a desired motion, or unloading an injured part of the body. More recently, orthoses have been used to transfer dynamic forces across compromised lower extremity joints and tissues to restore loading moments during ambulation.