Patricia's story: an Adapttech case study

Patricia Figueroa is one of our case studies from our partner clinic Prosthetics & Orthotic Associates, located in Middletown, NY.  We frequently conduct and present case studies to test the efficiency of the fitting process and to prove the commercial benefit of INSIGHT for O&P clinics. 

PATRICIA’S STORY 

Patricia is in the 65 to 79 age group, and she is retired but enjoys providing childcare for her grandchildren. She has been a prosthetic user for two years, however, has experienced anterior distal femur pain since her amputation, which was present both when she was and wasn’t wearing her prosthetic.  

Previous solutions include modifications such as reliefs built into the socket and holes drilled into the rigid frame on a trial-and-error basis. Additionally, after experiencing collapsing arteries, Pat had surgery two weeks prior to INSIGHT testing to put a stent in place. Although the physician cleared her for prosthetic use one week later, there were still concerns about putting pressure on the stent. 

THE APPOINTMENT 

Using INSIGHT, a product designed to improve the efficiency of the fitting process to rapidly deliver an ultra-comfortable, uniquely fitted lower-limb prosthesis for the patient, the prosthetist was able to see that Pat had too much anterior-posterior movement within her socket due to the relief that was made to accommodate the sensitive distal femur.  

Additional relief placed in this area would have just made it worse, so the prosthetist added a pad superior to the sensitive distal femur to stabilize the bone while keeping the relief in this area. INSIGHT displayed significantly less motion and less pressure on the sensitive distal end. 

“I feel confident that my prosthetic leg is going to only keep helping me. I am glad I was able to see what was going on as I am very worried about my blood flow and the stent that’s in my leg. This made me feel much better about using my prosthesis again and I know there’s not too much pressure on the stent.” - Patient

INSIGHT SOLUTION 

Using INSIGHT, the prosthetist was able to lay pressure indicators directly on the socket where Pat’s stent is located. The pressure map showed precisely where to alleviate pressure and helped to determine how much the prosthetist offloaded this region. This allowed the prosthetist to accurately offload the specific area where the stent was located while maintaining a snug fit and without sacrificing brim shape or ischial containment. 

“INSIGHT has drastically aided my ability to make proper reliefs on a brim without sacrificing the ideal fit. It helped me feel more confident, especially with an area that recently had a medical procedure. While using INSIGHT, I also ensured I had optimal ischial containment. I noticed while using INSIGHT that Pat had intermittent pressure, causing inconsistent ischial containment, so I was able to adjust the angle of the ischial seat for optimal containment, which helped to also improve overall comfort.” - Prosthetist