CHICAGO — Practitioners should request that their
patients rest for about 10 minutes before doffing to stabilize residual limb
fluid volumes, according to a presenter at The American Academy of Orthotists
and Prosthetists Annual Meeting and Scientific Symposium.
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Differences in fluid volumes appear depending on the
patient’s activity just before doffing, Joan E. Sanders, PhD,
associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington, said
during the first of her two Thranhardt Lectures she presented here.
In the patients she studied, the fluid volume took
approximately 5 minutes to stabilize in those who walked; about 3.4 minutes to
stabilize in seated patients without liners; and 1.7 minutes in seated patients
with liners. Likewise, the percentage of fluid volume was greater after walking
than sitting.
For both variables, more intense walking increased the
numbers even further.
“There were a lot of differences from one subject
to the next in terms of how much volume change they undergo,” Sanders
said. “What we’d like to do is get some concrete numbers so we can
figure out how much to reduce the socket after doffing and imaging to account
for that.”
She recommended that patients sit quietly for 10 minutes
before doffing. Also, that practitioners wait for about 3 minutes for
stabilization before casting with no liner and about 2 minutes before casting
with a liner; any more or less could result in volume changes, she said.
