WB meaning in Medical ?

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.

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.

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 100-20% of body weight.