Limb Lengthening Forum
Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Discussions => Topic started by: Overdozer on February 06, 2015, 01:25:02 PM
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Hey guys! So I'm struggling with my knee and ankle currently after lengthening 7.5 cm on my femur and tibia. I can't bend my knee past 130 degrees and my ankle dorsiflexion is limited at around 5-10 degrees. I figured I'd need at least 30 degrees ankle dorsiflexion for my feet to be fully functional. Now I've been searching around pubmed on studies regarding stretching and just how efficient it is in gaining range of motion and I figured I'd need to give constant pressure for many hours every day, which I thought would be much easier with a designed device specifically for increasing ROM. Here's what I've found so far:
Ankle Dorsiflexion Dynasplint® System http://www.dynasplint.com/joints/ankle/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XC35xJdZQ4
Looks very good to me. But sadly they only ship within USA.
JAS Ankle http://www.jointactivesystems.com/JAS-Systems/1/6/JAS-Ankle.aspx
JAS Knee http://www.jointactivesystems.com/JAS-Systems/1/5/JAS-Knee.aspx
>21° hyperextension
Again looks very solid, but they don't ship internationally. Sigh.
Empi Advance® Dynamic ROM http://www.djoglobal.com/products/empi/advance-dynamic-rom
http://www.physioroom.com/product/Empi_Advance_Dynamic_ROM_Ankle_Dorsiflexion/3364/38774.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g6VGCllHlM
Last one. Now this too looks promising and the store actually ships worldwide, so I can get it.
What's your opinion? Do you think it's worth getting? I feel like it should make stretching much, much easier.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19254503
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9242860
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435906/
http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/400_499/0405.html
http://www.basko.com/pdf/9100516.pdf
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10 degrees is normal dorsiflexion...
i dont know anyone with 30 degrees dorsiflexion in their ankles... it's extreme
here's a study done by the cdc....
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/jointrom/
average dorsiflexion for both males and females in the 20-44 age group was around 12 degrees
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Well I have 30 degrees on my other leg. As you may know, dorsiflexion decreases with a straight leg and increases with a flexed knee. I'm talking flexed. My ankle feels tight when standing with a straight leg.
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faoj.org/2012/12/01/dynamic-splinting-for-contracture-reduction-a-review/
Prolonged stretching of dynamic splinting has also been used proactively to prevent the expected contracture following knee surgery
Even though other treatment methods had been exhausted for these patients, use of the AFD for low load, prolonged duration of passive stretching accomplished a mean 23.4º improvement in 16 weeks with incremental tension changes every two weeks.
Ankle equinus is defined as a 10° deficit in dorsiflexion during the stance phase of gait, and it is common secondary to diabetes mellitus. Whilst there is a range of methods for treating ankle equinus, many findings remain inconclusive.[16, 17] It can be argued that the only proven method for reducing this contracture is surgical tendon lengthening. Lopez, et al., conducted a study of AFD treatment for reducing this contracture which affects patients’ gait pattern, injuries, infection and ultimately effects limb preservation in diabetic patients. Durations of treatment varied in this retrospective study (1-6 months) so the first month was examined for uniformity. In the first month patients regained a mean 9° in dorsiflexion which was a significant change for these 48 patients