Assessment of the intact foot in individuals with Unilateral lower extremity amputation

This study was conducted to evaluate the intact foot in individuals with unilateral lower extremity amputation. Thirty individuals, including 15 unilateral lower extremity amputations and 15 healthy adults, aged 18-60 years, participated in the study. The demographic information of the persons who were in compliance with the inclusion criteria was obtained and their consent was recorded. Height and body weight measurement, Body Mass Index (BMI), Weight Transfer to the Healthy Side (WTHS) Foot Posture Index (FPI), footprint methods (Clarke Index (CI), Chippaux-Smirak Index (CSI), Staheli's Arc Index (SAI)) measurements were made control and study group. Amputation date, cause of amputation, amputation level, time since first prosthesis, duration of daily prosthesis use and number of prosthesis were recorded in the study group. Intact lower extremity length, percentage of residuel limb, Joint Range of Motion (ROM), muscle strength, shortness of muscle, pain, intact foot and stump skin assessment, posture assessment, Heel Raise Test, Timed Up and Go Test, Shoe Rating Scale (SRS) and assessment of compliance to the prosthesis were applied. There was a significant difference between the height of the groups (p<0.05) and the control group was found to be significantly longer. Other than that there was no significant difference between the two groups in age, body weight and BMI (p>0.05). The study group's age, height, weight, BMI, FPI, CI, CSI, SAI, WTHS, SRS, percentage of residual limbs, daily prosthetic usage time, time since the first prosthesis, the number of prosthesis used and the assessment of prosthetic compliance related data were examined in itself with using Spearman's correlation analysis and there was only a moderate correlation between the daily prosthetic duration and the normal-abnormally intermittent distribution of CI (r=0.522). When the API, CI, SAI and CSI scores were compared, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups (p> 0.05). There was a significant difference between the WTHS percentage values of the groups (p<0.05), and the study group's weight transfer value to the healthy side was significantly higher. According to these results, intact foot biomechanics of unilateral lower extremity amputation was not affected and this result was related to the fit of the prosthesis and youth being used by the participants.