“Losing a limb is a life-changing event,” said study lead Katie Shean, MD. “It can be intimidating for patients to think about how they would get around and do basic tasks for themselves. It’s not just a loss of a major part of their body, it’s also the loss of independence.”
To address patients’ concerns, vascular surgeons and researchers at BIDMC reviewed seven years of patient records. The data revealed 91 percent of patients with resting leg pain, 86 percent with an ulcer and 78 percent with gangrene had to undergo a surgical intervention.
These findings can help physicians calculate surgical amputation risk for their own patients, according to Peter A. Soden, MD, who is presenting the study at the Society for Vascular Surgery’s Vascular Annual Meeting this month.
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