New way to attach a prosthetic limb after amputation

In the latest episode of the New Horizons in Health podcast, Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal talks with Marine and Army National Guard Veteran Ed Salau and Navy Veteran Joe Schutte, both of whom have benefited from a groundbreaking new way to attach a prosthetic limb after amputation.

After a body part such as a leg is amputated, the standard way to attach the replacement prosthetic is with a socket, a custom-made sleeve that fits around the stump of the remaining limb. Sockets can last several months to several years depending on the patient’s overall health, weight and how they use the prosthetic.

Potential problems can include skin breakdown, pain and discomfort, and in the case of leg prostheses, issues with balance.

Doing away with the socket

With this alternative method, called osseointegration or bone anchored prostheses, the attachment for the prosthetic is surgically anchored inside the bone of the remaining limb, which permanently eliminates the need for a socket. “Part of the implant system is inside the body and another part is actually outside of the body,” said Dr. Joe Webster, physician at Fayetteville VA and national medical director of VA’s Amputation System of Care. “And that allows us to directly connect the prosthetic limb to the Veteran’s remaining skeletal structure.”

In conversation with Elnahal, the two Veterans who use the system swear by its convenience and ease of use. “They put the anchor in my bone, and then I just connect my leg like putting a drill bit into a drill. It’s that simple,” said Navy Veteran Schutte.

Webster cautions that osseointegration requires two surgeries over the course of two or six months and a rehabilitation time of up to a year after surgery depending on the type of implant system.

People who have had the surgery report many advantages over the conventional socket system, including improved mobility, greater quality of life, increased perception of where and how their steps are placed, increased ability to perform daily activities and a decreased feeling of being disabled.

Veterans wanted for a new study

Ten Veterans have received the new system since it was approved for use in 2015. VA researchers are recruiting 147 Veterans nationwide with amputations above the knee for a study of the procedure’s safety and effectiveness.

For more information about the study, call 1-833-412-9359.

To learn more about osseointegration and to hear directly from Salau, Schutte and Webster, watch the latest episode of New Horizons in Health on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.