Prosthetic rehabilitation of elderly bilateral amputees.

A retrospective evaluation of vascular amputees, all over 55 years of age, found that 18 underwent bilateral lower limb amputation. The ages of patients ranged from 55 to 83 years, mean age at the time of second amputation was 65.9 years, 13 men and 5 women. Out of the 18 patients, 12 underwent bilateral below knee amputation (BK-BK), 3 below knee and above knee (BK-AK), and 3 bilateral above knee (AK-AK). Six patients (50%) of the 12 with BK-BK were fitted with prostheses. They therefore became users of two prostheses and have achieved a high functional level of rehabilitation despite a high mean age of 67.8 years. Five of these patients had been successful prosthetic users after the first leg amputation. The sixth patient underwent double BK amputation almost at the same time. He was fitted and rehabilitated with two prostheses simultaneously. Patients with BK-AK and AK-AK amputations had not been fitted with two prostheses. Deciding about prosthetic prescription and type of rehabilitation of elderly bilateral amputees is very difficult. Age alone is not a factor in success or failure of prosthetic rehabilitation. The type of rehabilitation for these patients is related mainly to the level of amputation, associated diseases and successful prosthetic use after the first leg amputation. Careful evaluation by a multidisciplinary team is the key for the right treatment decision and successful rehabilitation of this group of patients.