long-term clinical outcomes of war-related hip disarticulation and transpelvic amputation

background the iran-iraq war (1980–1988) was one of the longest wars of the 20th century. few studies are available in the current literature that evaluates the long-term results of proximal lower-extremity war-related amputations. objectives the purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to evaluate the current health-related quality of life and clinical musculoskeletal functions of iranian veterans with hip or hemipelvic amputation. materials and methods seventy-six patients from a cohort of 84 veterans with hip disarticulation and transpelvic amputation participated in this study. a persian version of medical outcomes study short form-36 (sf-36) was completed for all of the veterans. results the average duration of follow-up was 26.6 ± 3.7 years. the average age (and standard deviation) of the veterans was 44.1 ± 7.0 years. the average scores for the physical and mental health dimensions of the sf-36 were 45.85 ± 21.56 and 57.98 ± 25.19, respectively. the data indicates that the amputees were doing better in the mental domain than in the physical domain. forty-five patients with a primary amputation (97.8%) and 10 with a secondary amputation (33.3%) complained of pain in the amputation stump. conclusions veterans with proximal lower-extremity amputation will need life-long care. supervision starts with stump management and the application of appropriate surgical techniques at the time of the injury and continues with periodic examination throughout life.