An investigation of pressure profiles and wearer comfort during walking with a transtibial hydrocast socket

Objective to conduct an investigation of the transtibial hydrocast socket interface pressures during walking and explore potential relationships between pressures experienced and resultant wearer comfort. Design In this cross-sectional study, pressure data at the limb and hydrocast socket interface during walking were collected from sixteen users of the hydrocast socket. The pressures at this interface were described by location, magnitude and duration for all participants and were compared between the most and least comfortable participants. Results High pressures were found about the bony prominences of the residual limb, especially the tibial crest of the anterior distal region. Factors identified as potentially causing discomfort (p0.80) were high peak pressures at the anterior proximal region, and longer durations of submaximal loading at the lateral proximal region and the anterior and medial distal regions. High pressure variability at the anterior proximal region may also contribute to discomfort (p=0.106, d=0.88). Conclusions The hydrocast socket interface pressures have been described for a cohort of users. A number of differences were found in the pressure profiles of the most and least comfortable participants. These differences suggest trends between the identified pressure parameters and resultant wearer comfort. Future studies should confirm these exploratory results. *Corresponding author: Email: pvlee@unimelb.edu.au Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests Funding: This work was funded by the CASS Foundation (Australia), the Rotary Club of Richmond, (Australia), the Promobilia Foundation (Sweden) and the Australian Government Research Training Program. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Mr. Nguyen Hai Thanh, Mr. Dao Hong Duc and Mr. Pham Hung Cuong from the Vietnamese Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists for their contributions to the study. Author Contributions: SL collected the pressure data, completed the data analysis and drafted the manuscript. PL and NL conceived of and secured funding for the study, designed the study, coordinated the study and reviewed the manuscript. JL contributed to the study design, assessed the participants' limbs, supervised the production of the prostheses and reviewed the manuscript. All authors gave final approval for publication. Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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