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This issue of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America is devoted to'Amputee Rehabilitation.'Editor Robert Meier, III, MD is the Medical Director of the Amputee Services of America and has assembled the top experts to review this important topic. Articles in this issue include: Principles of Contemporary Amputee Rehabilitation; Etiology and Demographics of Amputation; Surgical Techniques for Ideal Outcomes; Pre-prosthetic Care; Prosthetic Choices for Leg and Arm Amputees; Devising the Prosthetic Prescription and Typical Examples; Prosthetic Training; Complications Following an Amputation; Outcomes Measurement; Gait Evaluation for the Leg Amputee; Innovative Techniques and Future Options; Emotional Adaptation to Limb Loss; Pain Management for the Amputee; and Amputation Classification and Functional Outcomes.

Modern weapons and high-energy accidents inflict devastating damage to soft tissue and bone. The gold standard for stabilizing high-energy fractures is immediate external fixation followed by thorough debridement of soft tissues and dead bone and irrigation, since these injuries are always grossly contaminated. The next stage of treatment – the coverage of exposed bone by vital soft tissue and definitive skeletal stabilization and reconstruction – can be a complex surgical challenge. The protocol of staged external fixation developed by the authors: primary temporary unilateral tubular stabilization followed by definitive circular Ilizarov (hybrid) fixation, is outlined and comprehensively described in this book. The text provides guidelines for the young surgeon as well as the senior orthopedic trauma surgeon in staged definitive limb functional reconstruction. The rationale and advantages of a logical progression of surgical steps are explained and fully illustrated throughout, drawing from an archive of clinical photographs and X-ray documentation covering all steps of the treatment protocol in a large variety of complex cases, including extensive bone and soft tissue loss. This practical guide is based on the accumulated experience of 40 years in the treatment of severe injuries of the musculoskeletal system with grave tissue loss, and in particular war injuries. Emphasis is given to the proper attention and care of the soft tissues, sequential damage control, and the judicious staged use of appropriate external fixation.