Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the lower limb proprioceptive sensation in patients with femoral amputation who received an artificial joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 22 patients (18 men, 4 women), 24-65 years old (mean: 42), who had undergone above-the-knee joint amputation and underwent evaluation of proprioception using joint reposition in a predetermined angle of 15° knee flexion. The measurements were applied using a conventional goniometer to both amputated and healthy knees. The last ones were used as internal control. All patients performed an active knee flexion from hyperextension to 15° in a closed kinetic chain in order to evaluate proprioceptive sensation of the knee joint using the joint position sense (JPS) method during specific controllable circumstances very close to normal gait. RESULTS: JPS at 15° flexion for the amputated knee was calculated to be equal to 13.91 (SD = ±4.74), and for the healthy side it was equal to 14.15 (SD = ±2.61). No statistically significant differences were detected between the amputated and the healthy limb (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The proprioceptive information of the stumps did not appear to be affected significantly after thigh amputation and application of artificial prosthesis when JPS at 15° was evaluated. It seems that these patients compensate the loss of the knee sensory receptors via alternative mechanisms.