This work highlights the most crucial service and technology-related needs, as perceived by trained prosthetic practitioners, of populations requiring lower limb prosthetic treatment around the world. Additionally, the results may be used to prioritize prosthetic-related health-care initiatives led by other researchers, governments and organizations working to improve services internationally.

A total knee arthroplasty performed with navigation results in more accurate component positioning with fewer outliers. It is not known whether image-based or image-free-systems are preferable and if navigation for only one component leads to equal accuracy in leg alignment than navigation of both components. We evaluated the results of total knee arthroplasties performed with femoral navigation. We studied 90 knees in 88 patients who had conventional total knee arthroplasties, image-based total knee arthroplasties, or total knee arthroplasties with image-free navigation. We compared patients' perioperative times, component alignment accuracy, and short-term outcomes. The total surgical time was longer in the image-based total knee arthroplasty group (109 +/- 7 minutes) compared with the image-free (101 +/- 17 minutes) and conventional total knee arthroplasty groups (87 +/- 20 minutes). The mechanical axis of the leg was within 3 degrees of neutral alignment, although the conventional total knee arthroplasty group showed more (10.6 degrees ) variance than the navigated groups (5.8 degrees and 6.4 degrees , respectively). We found a positive correlation between femoral component malalignment and the total mechanical axis in the conventional group. Our results suggest image-based navigation is not necessary, and image-free femoral navigation may be sufficient for accurate component alignment.

Little is known about the effects of acute exercise on the cognitive functioning of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Selected cognitive functions were thus measured using a pediatric version of the Stroop test before and after maximal, locomotor based aerobic exercise in 16 independently ambulatory children (8 children with CP), 6-15 years old. Intense exercise had: 1) a significant, large, positive effect on reaction time (RT) for the CP group (preexercise: 892 ± 56.5 ms vs. postexercise: 798 ± 45.6 ms, p < .002, d = 1.87) with a trend for a similar but smaller response for the typically developing (TD) group (preexercise: 855 ± 56.5 ms vs. postexercise: 822 ± 45.6 ms, p < .08, d = 0.59), and 2) a significant, medium, negative effect on the interference effect for the CP group (preexercise: 4.5 ± 2.5%RT vs. postexercise: 13 ± 2.9%RT, p < .04, d = 0.77) with no significant effect for the TD group (preexercise: 7.2 ± 2.5%RT vs. postexercise: 6.9 ± 2.9%RT, p > .4, d = 0.03). Response accuracy was high in both groups pre- and postexercise (>96%). In conclusion, intense exercise impacts cognitive functioning in children with CP, both by increasing processing speed and decreasing executive function.

This study evaluated the effects of intense physical exercise on postural stability of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Center of pressure (CoP) was measured in 9 typically developing (TD) children and 8 with CP before and after a maximal aerobic shuttle-run test (SRT) using a single force plate. Anteroposterior and mediolateral sway velocities, sway area, and sway regularity were calculated from the CoP data and compared between pre- and postexercise levels and between groups. Children with CP demonstrated significantly higher pre-SRT CoP velocities than TD children in the sagittal (18.6 ± 7.6 vs. 6.75 1.78 m/s) and frontal planes (15.4 ± 5.3 vs. 8.04 ± 1.51 m/s). Post-SRT, CoP velocities significantly increased for children with CP in the sagittal plane (27.0 ± 1.2 m/s), with near-significant increases in the frontal plane (25.0 ± 1.5m/s). Similarly, children with CP evidenced larger sway areas than the TD children both pre- and postexercise. The diminished postural stability in children with CP after short but intense physical exercise may have important implications including increased risk of falls and injury.