Characteristics of Stance Control Orthoses
I recently participated in an Advanced Training Seminar hosted by the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists that reviewed all currently available stance control orthoses as well as some of the "enhanced gait orthoses" that do not offer true stance control but are more biomechanically appropriate than the historic locked-knee joints. This turned out to be a very good forum for orthotists to learn about this new technology and to compare and contrast the various systems.
The final session of the course was an interactive discussion between the attendees and the various stance control experts who had presented each of the orthoses. The focus of this open forum was to collectively compare and contrast various features of the orthoses and to define a list of criteria that affect clinical utilization. The resulting PowerPoint slides are being posted here to stimulate further discussion and thought.
The idea for the spreadsheets came from Ann Hurley, CO of Big Sky Montana, who took all of the available training on SCOs and then generated an excellent summary sheet to provide an overview of the various approaches. The content of this PowerPoint is more comprehensive and was reviewed by a group of experts as well as the Academicians in attendance at the ATS, but grateful appreciation is extended to Ann for sharing the concept.
Several caveats are in order. First, since SCOs are rapidly evolving, at best these slides offer a snapshot of the technology at this time. There is NO guarantee that they will be accurate six months from now, and it is likely that some of the information will change within weeks. So, no one should base a clinical decision solely on this information. Rather, it should be used as a conceptual guideline, but please verify the details about any particular orthosis with the manufacturer's designated experts.
Secondly, the criteria in these spreadsheets may not all prove to be significant, and some important aspects may have been overlooked. Readers are encouraged to offer their opinions and suggestions so these slides can be refined over time. Finally, the purpose of this PowerPoint is to offer a convenient summary of the in-depth information provided at the Academy ATS program. It is NOT a substitute for individual training to use each of these SCOs and should never be construed as such.
Review the PowerPoint Summaries(PDF Format) generated by the attendees and faculty at the Academy SCO ATS in Chicago.
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