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Bhatt UK, Foo HY, McEvoy MP, et al. Is TCC-EZ a Suitable Alternative to Gold Standard Total-Contact Casting?. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2021;111(5)doi: 10.7547/8750-7315-111-5.Article_1.
Bhatt, U. K., Foo, H. Y., McEvoy, M. P., Tomlinson, S. J., Westphal, C., Harrison, J. C., Oshin, O., & Carter, S. L. (2021). Is TCC-EZ a Suitable Alternative to Gold Standard Total-Contact Casting?. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, 111(5), . https://doi.org/10.7547/8750-7315-111-5.Article_1
Bhatt, Umangi K, et al. "Is TCC-EZ a Suitable Alternative to Gold Standard Total-Contact Casting?." Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association vol. 111,5 (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.7547/8750-7315-111-5.Article_1
Bhatt UK, Foo HY, McEvoy MP, Tomlinson SJ, Westphal C, Harrison JC, Oshin O, Carter SL. Is TCC-EZ a Suitable Alternative to Gold Standard Total-Contact Casting?. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2021 Sep 01;111(5). doi: 10.7547/8750-7315-111-5.Article_1. PMID: 34861683.
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J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2021 Sep 01;111(5). doi: 10.7547/8750-7315-111-5.Article_1.

Is TCC-EZ a Suitable Alternative to Gold Standard Total-Contact Casting?.

Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association

Umangi K Bhatt, Hui Ying Foo, Mahalia P McEvoy, Sarah J Tomlinson, Cara Westphal, Jessica C Harrison, Olufemi Oshin, Sarah L Carter

PMID: 34861683 DOI: 10.7547/8750-7315-111-5.Article_1

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The total-contact cast (TCC) is the gold standard for off-loading diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) given its nonremovable nature. However, this modality remains underused in clinical settings due to the time and experience required for appropriate application. The TCC-EZ is an alternative off-loading modality marketed as being nonremovable and having faster and easier application. This study aims to investigate the potential of the TCC-EZ to reduce foot plantar pressures.

METHODS: Twelve healthy participants (six males, six females) were fitted with a removable cast walker, TCC, TCC-EZ, and TCC-EZ with accompanying brace removed. These off-loading modalities were tested against a control. Pedar-X technology measured peak plantar pressures in each condition. Statistical analysis of four regions of the foot (rearfoot, midfoot, forefoot, and hallux) was conducted with Friedman and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Significance was set at P < .05.

RESULTS: All of the off-loading conditions significantly reduced pressure compared with the control, except the TCC-EZ without the brace in the hallux region. There was no statistically significant difference between TCC-EZ and TCC peak pressure in any foot region. The TCC-EZ without the brace obtained significantly higher peak pressures than with the brace. The removable cast walker produced similar peak pressure reduction in the midfoot and forefoot but significantly higher peak pressures in the rearfoot and hallux.

CONCLUSIONS: The TCC-EZ is a viable alternative to the TCC. However, removal of the TCC-EZ brace results in minimal plantar pressure reduction, which might limit clinical applications of the TCC-EZ.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None reported.

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