January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009As true as it is in advertising, it may be even more true in healthcare. As evidence, this issue features not one but two articles on the ongoing battle to improve patient compliance—a battle practitioners have been fighting since even before the halcyon days of the three martini lunch.
By Jordana Bieze Foster
This three-step approach, based on a vertical alignment axis, offers a low-tech alternative for prosthetic alignment in developing nations, but also has applications in developed countries as
a simple clinical test to identify gait deviations.
By Yeongchi Wu, MD
Orthotic and prosthetic intervention for partial foot amputation is intended to restore the effective foot length and normalize gait and function. Research is only beginning to examine whether current interventions are up to the challenge.
By Michael P. Dillon, BP&O (Hons.), PhD
Perfect compliance is probably too much to hope for. But patient education, diligent follow-up, empathy and a little imagination can go a long way toward improving device wear rates and clinical outcomes.
By L.W. Barnes
Tactics borrowed from the advertising world could be just what is needed to effectively communicate the risks of foot ulcers and amputation to patients with diabetes and improve outcomes as a result.
By Jeffrey M. Robbins, DPM, Gerald Strauss, PhD, and Jennifer Regler, DPM
Research suggests that individuals with chronic ankle instability are also likely to have impaired neuromuscular function at the knee and hip – findings that could change your approach to preventing recurrent ankle sprains.
By Phillip A. Gribble, PhD, ATC
A high school forward rebounds the basketball, as she has thousands of times before. She lands with a flat foot, extended knee, and torso leaning awkwardly sideways, as her knee buckles inward. An audible pop is heard and felt as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee tears and ends her season, compromising her hopes of a college scholarship and perhaps even her expectation of a long, active, and healthy life.
by Timothy E. Hewett, PhD
Amputees fight another day: Better care increases return-to-duty rates
U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are no less likely to suffer an injury requiring amputation than their counterparts who served in previous conflicts, but such an injury is far less likely to keep today’s soldiers from returning to duty.
Plus:
• Balance, more than foot positioning, may affect amputee stair ambulation
• Time to stabilization fails to detect effect of ankle brace on stability
CP: Means sap strength data:Subgroup analysis may be key to gait link
Gait researchers’ frustrations in demonstrating benefits of strength training in children with cerebral palsy can be traced to the heterogeneity of the study population, according to a National Institutes of Health study that offers some insight as to which patients are most likely respond.
Plus:
• Treadmill outperforms outdoor walking for stroke rehabilitation
• Ankle weakness, not instability, explains reduced speed after TBI
Walk this way: Heels first: Rearfoot strike pattern uses less energy
Forefoot strike patterns, particularly those of the barefoot variety, have generated a lot of buzz in running circles lately. But a University of Utah study suggests that rearfoot strike patterns have advantages as well.
Plus:
• Shoe-surface combination with lowest risk of ACL injury pairs cleats with grass
• Gender affects response to eccentric training for Achilles tendinopathy
• Lower-extremity companies dig deep to help earthquake victims in Haiti
• JMS honors injured soldiers’ spirit
• Delcam debuts orthotic website
• Otto Bock backs Paralympic exhibit
Hosmer introduces a smaller version of the Entegra Knee, the Entegra SV Knee. The Entegra SV Knee has hydraulic swing phase control and is constructed with durable, lightweight aluminum alloy. Its compact design is perfect for smaller patients and cases where clearance and weight are a concern. Features of the Entegra SV Knee include: an [...]
Sroufe Healthcare introduces the Sher Comfort Series of Half-Sole Inserts to support the foot and help relieve pain caused by foot conditions such as plantar fasciitis, weak or fallen arches, and aching, geriatric, or fatigued feet. Anatomically formed with a deep heel cup and high sides to cradle and stabilize the foot, giving full contact [...]
JMS Plastic Supply introduces J-Gel for use wherever pressure relief and shear reduction is required. J-Gel is a low-durometer, high performance polyurethane gel with an adhesive backing that can be easily applied to any foot orthotic, brace or footwear product for relief in specific “hot spot” areas. J-Gel is anti-microbial and available in peel-and-stick 1mm [...]
The Gersh Day Splint is designed for daytime use in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. Other indications include Achilles tendinitis, posterior tibial tendinitis, peroneal tendinitis, extensor tendinitis, and drop foot. The splint provides a passive continual gentle stretch, to reduce or relieve daytime plantar fascia pain and minimize the risk of re-injury when the patient [...]
Orthofeet is adding more great looking models to its Tie-Less shoes collection, which allows users to wear regular lace-up shoes without needing to tie them. The modification of laces with hook-and-loop straps offers an easy way of fastening without tying, which can be challenging for patients who have difficulty bending over or who have impaired [...]
SpiderTech kinesiology tape from Nucap Medical is now available in the United States, in pre-cut and roll formats. SpiderTech includes 12 pre-cut, pre-designed, pre-packaged therapy solutions. The SpiderTech is easy to use for more efficient application, expanding clinical skill sets for the progres- sive practitioner and improving clinical outcomes by facilitating earlier and more frequent [...]
CAD-CAM software supplier Delcam introduces iQube, a versatile tool that allows users to scan what they want, when they want and how they want. Whether scanning a foot, a cast or a foam box impression, iQube can produce a high quality 3D image in approximately three seconds. This can save time and money and improve [...]
TurboSonic USA introduces its TurboSonic sonic vibration therapy system, the industry’s first major advancement to whole body vibration (WBV) therapy since its introduction by Russian cosmonauts in the 1970s. TurboSonic uses a speaker system with a new magnetic circuit in- stead of mechanized motors commonly used in other WBV machines. Designed for physical therapy and [...]