Previously submitted to: JMIRx Med (no longer under consideration since Jun 09, 2022)
Date Submitted: Feb 23, 2022
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Amputation in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Etiology, Characteristics and Clinical status from a Large Tertiary Rehabilitation Center
ABSTRACT
Background:
Limb amputation significantly impacts the patient's physical, emotional, and social life. Multiple etiological factors may lead to limb amputation. Unfortunately, there is limited data about amputation in Saudi Arabia. Since Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City (SBAHC) is a tertiary center receiving such patients, we collected data from ten years to look at the etiology, characteristics, and clinical impact of amputations in the Kingdom.
Objective:
Limb amputation has a major impact on the patient’s physical, emotional, and social life. There are multiple etiological factors that may lead to limb amputation. There is limited data about amputation in Saudi Arabia and since Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City is a tertiary center receiving such patients, data from ten years was collected to look at etiology, characteristics, and clinical impact of amputation in the kingdom.
Methods:
A retrospective study of 1409 amputee patients’ data at SBAHC collected over ten years included demographic variables, etiology, site, level, and type of amputation. We also collected Functional independent measurement (FIM) scores for 618 patients.
Results:
Males constitute the majority of amputees (75.7%) and the average age in males was higher in males compared to females (45 vs 36 years respectively, p<0.001). Vascular diseases (42.3%) and Trauma (36.8%) were the leading cause of amputation in this cohort. Diabetes mellitus was the most frequent comorbidity (40.5%), followed by hypertension (26.2%). Trans-tibial amputations were the most typical (22.58%), followed by trans-femoral amputation (14.12%). Traumatic trans-femoral amputation was more prevalent among young adults than traumatic trans-tibial amputation. Trauma-related amputation cases were highest in the age group of 21-30 years (69.2%), while vascular related amputations were highest in the age group of 70 and above years (89.5%). FIM scores improved significantly in locomotion (33.6%) followed by transfer (30.6%) and self-care (16.4%) at six-month post discharge compared to admission (all p-values<0.01).
Conclusions:
Vascular pathology arising due to chronic diseases is the primary risk factor that may lead to amputation and warrant primary and secondary prevention programs. Seatbelt enforcement can significantly decrease amputation related to Road Traffic Accidents, which has been the second most familiar cause of amputation.
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