Extent of disability following traumatic extremity amputation

Abstract

Extremity amputation is a devastating injury. Forty-two patients who sustained traumatic limb amputation were contacted 3-57 months (mean, 25 months; median, 24 months) after injury to evaluate residual disability and to determine what factors were associated with a good recovery. There were 35 men and 7 women with ages ranging from 5 to 73 years (mean, 34 years). Amputation was the result of a motor vehicle crash in 18, work-related injury in 11, motorcycle crash in 9, and other causes in 4. There were 46 amputations done: 8 above-knee (AK), 25 below-knee (BK), 5 above-elbow (AE), and 9 below-elbow (BE). Twenty patients reported no problems with their prosthesis, 8 had major (e.g., infections) and 6 had minor (e.g., skin breakdown) problems. Eight patients did not receive or did not use a prosthesis. Fourteen patients were discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, 25 to home with outpatient rehabilitation, and 3 had no rehabilitation. Of those who worked before their injury, only 50% returned to work. The mean and median time to return to work were 14 and 12 months, respectively. Three of five full-time students returned to school. The amputation level in patients returning to work or school was BK in 12, BE in 3, and AE in 1. No patient with a AK amputation and only 1 (9%) patient with a work-related injury returned to work. Associated injuries or inpatient rehabilitation did not correlate with returning to work. Eighty-eight percent of patients were satisfied with their adjustment and could perform all activities of daily living.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)