CHICAGO — To prevent amputation, physicians must assemble a comprehensive multidisciplinary team to care for patients at risk for losing their limbs, Ramon Varcoe, MD, MBBS, MS, FRACS, PhD, said at AMP: The Amputation Prevention Symposium.
A multidisciplinary approach to limb preservation begins with recognizing the major drivers of amputation. The global public health threat posed by the “tsunami of diabetes,” for instance, is a significant problem, he said.
If a patient develops diabetes, his or her risk for amputation is 15 times as high as someone who does not, according to Varcoe.
“The impact is more than amputation itself, though; it’s a reduction in life expectancy as well,” he said, noting that studies have linked amputation to an increased risk for death and 5-year rates of death exceeding that of some cancers … read more