This study was performed to investigate the efficacy of prosthetic rehabili
tation in children with congenital malformations, also to determine whether
there were any factors related to family history and pregnancy which could
have affected the formation of such deficiencies.
Twenty-five (25) limb deficient children were provided with prostheses and
received rehabilitation. A detailed family and pregnancy history was resear
ched through the records. The ability of performing activities of daily liv
ing was scored on a four point scale.
Thirteen (13) lower and 12 upper limb deficient children with a mean age of
4.88+/-2.52 years were included in the study. Ten (10) children had longit
udinal and 15 transverse deficiencies. Traditional marriages amongst close
cousins were observed in 31%. Five (5) mothers used medications, 2 received
radiodiagnostic tests and 2 had bleedings during pregnancy.
Some 84.7% of the lower limb group became independent walkers without requi
ring walking aids while 15.3% of them required Canadian crutches for indepe
ndent ambulation. A total of 61.5% of these children actively participated
in recreation with peers. In the upper limb group 41.6% were completely ind
ependent in self-care, feeding and hand skills; 33.3% showed independence w
ith self-help devices while 25% tended to use the prostheses for assistive
purposes. Participation in recreational activities was 58.2%.
The author's results have shown that the children gained a functional activ
ity level although the prostheses were provided in a late period. It can be
concluded that success in rehabilitating these children is a true challeng
e.