Rehabilitation of elderly lower-extremity amputees.

Eighty elderly amputees who were seen at the Rehabilitation Centre of the Royal South Sydney Hospital during a five-year period between 1974 and 1978, have been reviewed. These included 44 unilateral below-knee amputees, 21 unilateral above-knee amputees, and 15 bilateral amputees. Seventy-nine per cent of these patients were able to use their prostheses successfully, and 84% returned to their own homes after discharge from hospital. Some details of the rehabilitation programme, and types of prosthesis prescribed are discussed.