Weight-bearing

In orthopedics, weight-bearing is the amount of weight a patient puts on an injured body part. Generally, it refers to a leg, ankle or foot that has been fractured or upon which surgery has been performed, but the term can also be used to refer to resting on an arm or a wrist. In general, it is described as a percentage of the body weight, because each leg of a healthy person carries the full body weight when walking, in an alternating fashion.[citation needed]

After surgery of the hip, or of the bones of the leg, ankle, or foot, it is of the utmost importance for recovery to get the right amount of weight-bearing when moving around with crutches or frames.[1]

The grades of weight bearing for each phase of recovery will be determined by the surgeon. The Anti-Gravity Treadmill can allow testing of weight bearing by lowering effective body weight in 1% increments from 100 to 20% of body weight.[2]

  1. ^ Warren, Jared; Sundaram, Kavin; Anis, Hiba; McLaughlin, John; Patterson, Brendan; Higuera, Carlos A.; Piuzzi, Nicolas S. (October 2019). "The association between weight-bearing status and early complications in hip fractures". European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology. 29 (7): 1419–1427. doi:10.1007/s00590-019-02453-z. ISSN 1633-8065.
  2. ^ Henkelmann, Ralf; Palke, Lisa; Schneider, Sebastian; Müller, Daniel; Karich, Bernhard; Mende, Meinhard; Josten, Christoph; Böhme, Jörg (January 2021). "Impact of anti-gravity treadmill rehabilitation therapy on the clinical outcomes after fixation of lower limb fractures: A randomized clinical trial". Clinical Rehabilitation. 35 (3): 356–366. doi:10.1177/0269215520966857. ISSN 0269-2155.