• Carlos Henrique da Silva Fontes Filho, Conrado Torres Laett, Ubiratã Faleiro Gavilão, José Carlos de Campos, Dângelo José de Andrade Alexandre, Victor R A Cossich, and Eduardo Branco de Sousa.
• Centro de Amputados, Unidade de Reabilitacao, Instituto Nacional de Traumatologia e Ortopedia (INTO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BR.
• Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2021 Jan 1; 76: e2486e2486.

ObjectivesTo evaluate how transtibial amputation (TT) affects bodyweight distribution, voluntary knee joint position sense (JPS), and quadriceps (QUA) and hamstrings (HAM) strength in prosthetized patients.MethodsOnly TT patients who had been prosthetized for more than one year were included, and an age-paired able-bodied group was used as control. The participants stood on force plates with their eyes open to measure bodyweight distribution between the limbs. Knee voluntary JPS was assessed by actively reproducing a set of given arbitrary joint angles using a video analysis approach, and QUA and HAM strength were assessed isometrically with a hand-held dynamometer.ResultsSixteen TT subjects (age: 39.4±4.8 years) and sixteen age-paired control subjects (age: 38.4±4.3 years) participated in the study. The amputees supported their bodyweight majorly on the sound limb (54.8±8.3%, p<0.001). The proprioceptive performance was similar between the amputated (absolute error (AE): 2.2±1.6°, variable error (VE): 1.9±1.6°, constant error (CE): -0.7±2.0°) and non-amputated limbs (AE: 2.6±0.9°, VE: 2.1±0.9°, CE: 0.02±2.3°), and was not different from that of control subjects (AE: 2.0±0.9°, VE: 1.4±0.4°, CE: -1.1±1.7°). There was a considerable weakness of the QUA and HAM in the amputated limb compared with the sound limb and control subjects (p<0.001 both).ConclusionsThe asymmetric bodyweight distribution in the transtibial amputees was not accompanied by a reduction in knee proprioception. There was significant weakness in the amputated limb, which could be a potential issue when designing rehabilitation programs.

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