Functional Restoration of Adults and Children With Upper Extremity Amputation

"This is the only comprehensive guide to the surgery, prosthetic fitting, and rehabilitation of individuals sustaining an arm amputation. It incorporates the major advances in prosthetics and rehabilitation that have occurred in recent years, and will improve the quality of service and the outcomes for those who sustain an arm amputation. Sections deal with the surgical aspects of arm amputation, the comprehensive management of the arm amputee, prosthetic restoration following arm amputation, the special concerns of upper extremity amputation in children, and clinical outcomes.

The incidence, demographics, and functional outcomes are quite different from those of lower limb amputees. The arm amputee is most commonly a young man who sustains a traumatic injury, most often to his right, dominant arm. Because the incidence of arm amputation is low compared to that of the lower extremity, relatively few health professionals have much experience in providing surgery, therapy, rehabilitation, prosthetic care, or counseling for a significant number of arm amputees. This book is the definitive text for these individuals.

The prosthetic field, including its allied healthcare team, takes on a formidable task in restoring physical capabilities to the upper extremity amputee. This feat cannot be accomplished solely using modern technology, and technology is not always the central issue. Optimal rehabilitation requires an underlying commitment in many essential areas of care: for one, sensitivity to the desires, anxieties and fears of the individual with amputation. Although the prosthetic practitioner has at his or her disposal more technology than ever before, restoring integral function for the amputee involves still more than mechanical application. Interdisciplinary, cooperative efforts in research, development, and treatment between prosthetic practitioners and other constituents of the allied healthcare team is paramount. The rehabilitation process must focus not only on the provision and use of a prosthesis, but also on issues related to surgical procedures, self-determination and pain management. To this end, Functional Restoration of Adults and Children with Upper Extremity Amputation provides the definitive guide for all surgeons, prosthetists, and rehabilitation professionals who work with upper limb amputees.

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I would recommend this text to all physical therapists with an interest in upper-extremity amputation and management. -- Physical Therapy, September 2004