The results of immediate and early post-surgical prosthetic fitting in
eighty-seven upper-extremity amputees as well as the results in nine
patients with shoulder dislocation who were fitted with temporary devices
were reviewed. No local wound complications occurred and the rate of
prosthetic acceptance was high. A practice prosthesis, with a filler insert
formed from liquid Silastic foam allowed to set between the walls of the
practice prosthesis and the amputation stump, was used extensively in this
series. With the Silastic insert and practice prosthesis, prosthetic
training could be instituted during healing of the amputation wounds,
proximal wounds, or fractures.