Affiliations: [a] Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey | [b] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pamukkale University Medical School, Denizli, Turkey | [c] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Timur Ekiz, Ankara Fizik Tedavi Rehabilitasyon Eǧitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Türkocaǧı Sok. No: 3, 06230 Sıhhiye, Ankara, Turkey. Tel.: +90 312 310 32 30; Fax: +90 312 311 80 54; E-mail:timurekiz@gmail.com
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To compare the distal femoral cartilage thickness of the
non-amputee sides in patients who had unilateral transfemoral amputation
with those of healthy subjects by using ultrasound. METHODS: Thirty transfemoral amputees (27 male, 3 female) and 30
age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched healthy controls were included.
Functional usage of the prosthesis was evaluated by using Houghton score.
The cartilage thickness was measured from the following midpoints; medial
femoral condyle (MFC), intercondylar area, and lateral femoral condyle. RESULTS: Thirty patients with unilateral transfemoral amputation
(mean age; 38.6 ± 9.5 years) and 30 healthy controls (mean age; 38.4 ± 9.4 years) were included. Although femoral cartilage thicknesses were found
to be lower for all measurements in the amputees, the difference reached
significance only in the MFC (p= 0.031). In the patient group, cartilage
thickness values did not correlate with age, duration of amputation, daily
walking time, stump length or Houghton score. CONCLUSION: The distal femoral cartilage thickness seems to be
decreased medially on the non-amputee sides of the transfemoral amputees
when compared with the healthy subjects. Further studies concerning the
follow-up designs, functional parameters and osteoarthritis scales are
awaited.
