Review of the treatment of thalidomide children with limb defeciency in Great Britain.

Thalidomide-induced deformities, affecting some 400 British children, caused various combinations of malformations. Classified by type of defect and whether confined to upper and/or lower limbs, the malformations can be treated on a radional basis. The treatment from infancy to the present time includes the fitting of carbon dioxide gas-powered upper limb prostheses, initially in their simplest form and finally in the most sophisticated form. For a baby with bilateral lower phocomelia, a special "sitting socket" was devised to enable sitting in an upright position. When each child was about 12 to 15 months of age, extension protheses were supplied and the effects on walking when upper limbs are malformed or absent were noted. The methods of achieving personal independence and developing constructive youngests' pastimes are important. One patient was so well rehabilitated that she was able to marry and start a healthy family.