Results of prosthetic rehabilitation on managing transtibial vascular amputation with silicone liner after wound closure

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of a standardized silicone liner programme on the duration of prosthetic rehabilitation in patients who underwent transtibial amputation as a result of peripheral arterial disease. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled patients who underwent transtibial amputation followed by one of two stump management programmes at the same rehabilitation centre over a period of 14 years. The study compared the duration of rehabilitation following a standardized silicone liner programme compared with that following a conventional soft dressing programme. RESULTS: This study included 16 patients who underwent the silicone liner programme and 11 patients who underwent the soft dressing programme. There were no significant differences between the two groups in age, sex, interval between amputation and admission to the rehabilitation centre and stump length. The duration required for the completion of the rehabilitation programme was significantly shorter for the silicone liner programme compared with the soft dressing programme (mean ± SD: 77.3 days ± 13.4 versus 125.4 days ± 66.4 days, respectively). CONCLUSION: A standardized silicone liner programme reduced the duration of rehabilitation and could be a valuable replacement for soft dressing-based stump management.