The initial trauma of a major amputation and the medical disorders secondary to it are being studied at the Biomechanics Laboratory. Problems that arise from amputation and from the replacement of the limb by a prosthetic device are complex but interrelated, and approaches to study on basic, applied and clinical levels must be integrated. Three studies carried on at the Biomechanics Laboratory are described in this paper. In the field of amputation operations, it is believed that certain osteoplastic and myoplastic techniques, along with protection for nerve stumps and measures to provide optimum circulatory conditions, may restore biological and mechanical function to a greater degree than is possible with present procedures. From studies of the expenditure of energy during locomotion with and without assistive devices and during therapeutic exercise, it was found that crutch-walking is metabolically much more costly in energy for the amputee than walking with the suction-socket prosthesis; through these studies, it will be possible to define criteria for maximum work loads for disabled persons. In dermatological studies, although there are still unsolved problems, successful methods of treatment have been developed for certain bacterial and fungus infections, contact dermatitides and disorders resulting from edema.

Amputation, Surgical↗

PubMed1959

Stretching of the sciatic nerve; a means of relieving postoperative pain following removal of ruptured lumbar intervertebral discs.

Stretching the sciatic nerve for the relief of "sciatica" was frequently employed before 1900 and was subsequently abandoned, probably because it was done without sufficient scrutiny of the indications. The procedure has recently been employed in cases in which "sciatica" remains following the operative removal of ruptured intervertebral discs, and it has been instrumental in relieving postoperative "sciatica" when the cause was the formation of adhesions about the lumbar nerve roots. If the nerve root is compressed by recurrent disc protrusion or by adjacent bone, the manipulation usually increases the pain, a phenomenon that has been helpful from a diagnostic standpoint.

Exercise Therapy↗

PubMed1957