News
Official Opening Of The Amputation Reconstruction Center

By Kerry Breen

Edited By Allison Elyse Gualtieri

/ CBS New

Read the article on CBS News

Tyler Theroux came into the world with a brachial plexus birth injury that kept his left arm dysfunctional and contorted in pain. As a child, he couldn’t engage in playground activities like the monkey bars, and his classmates would bully him about the injury.

Eventually, Theroux dropped out of school to be homeschooled. While the teasing stopped, the pain didn’t: His parents watched him experience fresh agony with every growth spurt. The brachial plexus is the group of nerves that sends signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm and hand, and that nerve pain kept him awake at night, despite multiple attempts at surgery and therapeutic treatment.

Dr JH Hacquebord

Introducing the center of amputation reconstruction

Our new Center for Amputation Reconstruction is led by our orthopedic faculty Dr.Ayalon and Dr. Hacquebord.

Our surgeons partner with occupational therapists, prosthetists, and mental health professionals to help you achieve the maximum level of movement and function after amputation. We recognize that limb loss not only affects physical functioning, but also psychological and emotional wellbeing. We bring together a team that can identify and address any barriers to regaining mobility and independence.

Our mission is to:

  • Empower you to more seamlessly engage in your activities and move through everyday life.
  • Care for Limb Loss or Amputation at Rusk Rehabilitation
  • Rehabilitation medicine specialists provide care and support as you continue your recover

Our surgeons specialize in the most advanced surgical techniques and prosthetic technologies, and work together with you to understand your goals and attain the best possible outcome. We offer options that help to reduce pain, treat phantom limb sensation, and improve the movement and control of an amputated limb with prosthesis.

These procedures include the following:

  • targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), a surgical procedure that minimizes chronic pain and helps with prosthesis control
  • creation of regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces within the amputated limb to stimulate nerves, help manage pain and improve prosthetic function
  • revision surgery of the amputated limb and nerve procedures to ease pain that results from an ill-fitting prosthesis
  • osseointegration, a procedure in which the prosthesis is integrated and permanently implanted into the bone
  • fitting of a myoelectric prosthesis, which uses electrodes to pick up and respond to electrical impulses that are created when muscles are flexed

Our surgeons collaborate with a team that includes on-site occupational therapists and prosthetists to tailor care to your specific needs and priorities. Our prosthetists are highly experienced in providing an array of prosthetic devices for all levels of limb loss and assist in surgical planning to ensure optimal fit, integration, and comfort. Our occupational therapists recognize the roles, activities, and personal experiences that are most meaningful to you in developing a treatment and rehabilitation plan.

After surgery, we can refer you to Rusk Rehabilitation, where specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy, psychology, social work, and vocational rehabilitation provide you with care for limb loss or amputation so you can continue your recovery.

Source: www.nyulangone.org

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