Congenital Limb Deficiency
Throughout history there have been babies born with limb deficiencies, as there are today. It is hard to obtain reliable statistics, but as a rough guide about 60 babies per year will be born in the UK who will need a prosthesis. This number has remained constant for many years, and for the vast majority of these babies there is no known cause for their deficiency. Occasionally genetic factors can cause the deficiency, and genetic testing can be carried out where this may be the case. Normally, parents can go on to have further children with extremely little chance of the same deficiency recurring.
Although the deficiency can range from the partial loss of a finger, to the complete loss of both arms, the majority of affected children, that are seen in a prosthetic clinic, are born with one hand and 2/3rds of their fore-arm missing. In a right handed world, it is perhaps fortuitous that about 66% of these children have lost their left hands and forearms. From the Prosthetist’s (artificial limb specialist) point of view, this level of deficiency is the easiest to fit successfully. Children with longer deficient arms, may find that they can manage better without a prosthesis for the simple reason that it is much more satisfactory to feel objects with their own skin.
by Mark Broomfield The National Centre for Training and Education in Prosthetics and Orthotics, University of Strathclyde
