Special Interest Group for Bone Anchored Limbs

About SIGBAL

Scope

SIGBAL will focus on persons with both upper and lower limb amputation who may be candidates for a bone-anchored limb. A bone-anchored limb is an innovative method of attaching artificial limbs to the human body.

In SIGBAL, the members work together to provide optimal care for persons with limb amputation. The membership may consist of, but not be limited to, prosthetists, technicians, rehabilitation specialists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, surgeons, engineers, and researchers.

Objectives:

To create an overview of teams / healthcare professionals involved in bone-anchored prosthesis treatment.
To facilitate partnership between members of SIGBAL to discuss complex treatment-related issues
To create a core outcome set for bone-anchored prosthesis treatment to facilitate international collaboration.
To create a knowledge agenda aimed at identifying the obstacles in the field of bone-anchored prosthesis treatment.
To organize a joint meeting during the ISPO Int’l World Congress at least every two years.
To explore the need for an accreditation system for institutions to facilitate an informed choice for patients seeking bone-anchored prosthesis treatment.
To explore the need for a global data management system to facilitate joint publications.

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Events & Activities

Recommended regular conferences relating to bone anchored limbs and upcoming SIGBAL meetings.

Resources

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Guidelines

Development of the Bone-Anchored Lower Limbs Core Outcome Set (BALLCOS)

Bone-anchored limbs for persons with a lower extremity amputation have been available for over 30 years, however there is no agreement on a standardized set of outcomes. This limits (international) collaboration and thereby the possibility to push the field forward. To learn more about Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) visit: https://www.comet-initiative.org.

The Special Interest Group for Bone-Anchored Limbs (SIGBAL) aims to develop a core outcome set (COS) that represents the minimum that should be measured in clinical practice and reported in scientific research of bone-anchored limb users.

Phase 1: Development of a comprehensive list of relevant functional and adverse events outcomes

Step 1: Developing a comprehensive list of outcomes that may be important to BAL- users
- LEAD / Compass
- Literature review
- Online questionnaire
Step 2: Expert panel (advisory committee and steering committee)

Phase 2: Two-round Delphi

Round 1: first selection
Round 2: second selection
Round 3: final selection

Phase 3: Ranking meeting

Time-line

Until December 2024: step 1 of phase 1
January – March 2025: step 2 of phase 1
March – April 2025: Round 1 and 2 of phase 2
May 2025: Round 3 of phase 2
June 2025: Round 3 of phase 2

Patient Journey & Treatment Team

We kindly request your patience as this section of our website is currently under construction. We are diligently working to create content that meets our standards of excellence.