SSM Rehabilitation Hospital's Amputee Program is a comprehensive medical rehabilitation program providing
clinical, technical, and professional resources for individuals who have had a
lower extremity amputation. It provides individualized treatment programs
aimed at helping each patient achieve independence and enhance quality of life.
Therapeutic objectives of the Amputee Program include training in skills and
techniques for:
- Pre-prosthetic instruction
- Skin care
- Adaptation for activities of daily living
- Prosthetic gait training
- Prosthetic limb maintenance
In addition to inpatient rehabilitation, SSM Rehabilitation Hospital's amputee continuum
of care also includes home health care, Day Institute services, and outpatient
prosthetic gait training.
Inpatient Amputee Program
Treatment programs are individualized to each patient, and are developed
to accomplish a number of therapeutic goals, including:
- Reduce swelling and shaping of the residual limb for prosthetic fit
-
Teach independence in ambulation and transfers without the prosthesis
-
Increase independence in daily living skills including use of adaptive equipment
-
Maintain range of motion and prevent contractures
-
Educate the patient and family concerning residual limb care, skin care and maintenance
of the prosthesis
-
Improve general and specific muscle strength
-
Develop pre-vocational skills
-
Develop the patient's and family's coping skills
- Facilitate community reentry
Admission
Patients are accepted for inpatient rehabilitation on the basis of physician referral.
In order to be admitted to an SSM Rehabilitation Hospital inpatient unit, it should be demonstrated
that the individual:
-
is medically stable
-
has a potential for rehabilitation
-
is unable to function independently in a safe manner
- has demonstrated impairment in mobility and other self care activities.
Evaluation Process and Treatment Team
A thorough evaluation is done to develop an individualized treatment plan. The
patient's rehabilitation is coordinated by a team consisting of:
- Physiatrist (medical doctor specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation)
who provides medical oversight
-
Physical Therapists who evaluate an individual's joint motion, muscle strength and
endurance, balance and mobility
-
Occupational Therapists who evaluate an individual's ability to carry out activities
of daily living such as toileting, bathing, dressing, and hand and fine motor skills
-
Dietitians who provide nutritional evaluation and follow-up
-
Psychologists who provide emotional support and insight into the disability
and transition to independent living
- Nursing care following specific amputee care protocol
Continuing Care
Next levels of care in the rehabilitation continuum for amputee patients
- Home Care
After discharge from inpatient rehabilitation, patients may receive continued
occupational and physical therapy through SSM Home Care rehabilitation services. This helps
with adjustment to the home environment and maintains functional gains while the
limb is healing.
- Day Institute Amputee Rehabilitation Program
When the wound has healed satisfactorily, patients are evaluated by the physiatrist
and a representative from the prosthetic company. The appropriate prosthesis is
prescribed based on each patient's goals, health status, and activity level.
(More
on the Day Institute Amputee Program.)
- Prosthetic Training
Once the prosthesis has been fabricated, the patient has a choice of being enrolled
in either an inpatient, Day Institute, or outpatient comprehensive prosthetic
gait training program. This is designed to help achieve the goals of attaining independence
in mobility, transfers, ambulation, and self-care with the prosthesis. Again, a
comprehensive transdisciplinary (multiple disciplines working in conjunction with
one another) team approach is utilized, including a prosthetist. The prosthetist
will be available to make appropriate and timely adjustments/modifications to the
prosthesis when required.
