An innovative removable rigid dressing technique for below-the-knee amputation

Abstract

The below-the-knee removable rigid dressing is a below-the-knee plaster cast held by a suspension stockinette to a supracondylar plastic cuff. It has proved to be an effective method for postoperative, pre-prosthetic, and prosthetic care of below-the-knee amputees. Being removable, it permits frequent observation and progressive shrinkage of the stump (by adding socks), and eliminates the need of elastic stump bandaging. In addition, it still maintains the advantages of immobilization of soft tissue (to reduce pain and facilitate wound healing) and prevention of trauma to the stump as does the conventional rigid dressing. It has significantly reduced the incidence of pre-tibial skin breakdown and distal edema, produced fast stump shrinkage, and shortened time to ambulatory discharge with a temporary prosthesis by ninety days.