Experience with an all-plastic patellar tendon-bearing orthosis.

Forty-three patients were fitted with a new all-plastic PTB orthosis over a period of 42 months. The diagnostic categories were primarily musculoskeletal impairments of the tibia and the ankle, with some instances of injury or disease of the plantar surface of the foot. Improvement in cosmesis, orthotic weight-reduction, ease of donning, marked relief of pain, and functional gains in ambulation were reported. No product failures occurred except for minor cracks in the distal plantar surface; replacements were provided to children within 11 to 14 months, and to adults within 19 to 24 months. Of the entire study population, only four preferred their previous long-leg braces that felt more secure after many years of use.