The upper-extremity amputee. Early and immediate post-surgical prosthetic fitting.

The results of immediate and early post-surgical prosthetic fitting in eighty-seven upper-extremity amputees as well as the results in nine patients with shoulder dislocation who were fitted with temporary devices were reviewed. No local wound complications occurred and the rate of prosthetic acceptance was high. A practice prosthesis, with a filler insert formed from liquid Silastic foam allowed to set between the walls of the practice prosthesis and the amputation stump, was used extensively in this series. With the Silastic insert and practice prosthesis, prosthetic training could be instituted during healing of the amputation wounds, proximal wounds, or fractures.