Functional use of esthetic hand prosthesis: A patient's perspective

Abstract

Published reports on the functional benefits of esthetic prosthesis are based on either anecdotal evidence or simplified, nonstandard forms of hand function evaluation performed by the researcher. It is not clear whether and how patients actually make functional use of their prosthesis on a daily basis. We report a case of a patient with a partial hand amputation who was initially ambivalent about fitting an esthetic prosthesis, but went on to make functional use of her prosthesis for activities of daily living, work, and social life at 3 years after injury. We present the patient's own assessment and video recordings, made without influence from rehabilitation personnel that demonstrates this functional use. From this case, we discuss the important factors of a favorable residual limb type, together with targeted modifications made to the prosthesis to optimize function.