The use of long leg calipers for paraplegic patients: a follow-up study of patients discharged 1973-82.

We reviewed the medical records of 45 paraplegic patients discharged with long leg calipers, during the 10 year period 1973-82, from the Rehabilitation Hospital in Hornbaek, Denmark. A follow-up interview was carried out during 1993-94 for all 40 patients who were still alive. Thirty had complete paraplegia (seven women) and 10 had incomplete paraplegia (two women). At the follow-up interview only three were still using their calipers. The main reasons for giving up the use of calipers was, in 38%, that it was too time consuming to put them on and take them off. For 22% the main reason was a fear of falling, while 19% reported that the calipers were impractical, as their hands had to be occupied in keeping balance and therefore could not be used for other purposes, including carrying items. The three paraplegic patients who did not totally give up the use of long leg calipers used them very little, at a maximum once a week. In contrast all 10 paraplegic patients who had been provided with a standing frame made use of this at least once a month. The majority of the remaining subjects were interested in having a standing frame. We therefore believe that a standing frame could be a good alternative to long leg calipers to facilitate standing for spinal cord injured patients.