Multiple Prosthetic Sockets for Lower Limb Amputations

Key Messages

• Clinicians may provide people being fitted for a prosthesis with temporary test prosthetic sockets to solicit feedback on their shape and comfort. The feedback can then be incorporated into the final design of the prosthesis, allowing customization based on the individual’s experience.
• Limited evidence suggests that providing people with lower limb amputation a test socket before fitting a permanent socket may improve mobility and function, pain while walking, and prosthetic satisfaction, as well as decrease the frequency of admissions.
• One guideline recommends the postoperative use of a prosthesis as soon as possible after transtibial amputation and that custom-made prostheses are preferable to prefabricated prostheses.
• Additional high-quality evidence is needed to better understand the most appropriate use of multiple prosthetic sockets in people with lower limb amputation.