Prosthetic conformers: a step towards improved rehabilitation of enucleated children.
Enucleation in children is distressing for families, particularly because of concerns of cosmesis. In the last 2 years the authors have used painted conformers instead of clear conformers to make the postoperative healing and rehabilitation period easier on the families. A set of six prosthetic conformers (small, medium and large; blue and brown) was available in the operating room. An appropriately sized and colour-matched conformer was placed in the socket at the end of surgery and kept for an average of 4-6 weeks. This decreased the psychological impact of enucleation, yet achieved the goals of an ideal conformer allowing optimal wound healing without pressure to fit a permanent individualized prosthesis earlier than 6 weeks after surgery. The acceptance of families to prosthetic conformers in this paediatric population has been very positive, improving rehabilitation of the family and the enucleated child.