Risk Factors for In-hospital Mortality and Reamputation Following Lower Limb Amputation

The backgrounds of patients undergoing lower limb amputation (LLA) have recently changed dramatically. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the main reason for LLA was traumatic injury.1–3) However, peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) have emerged as major causes of LLA. In recent studies, PVD and DM accounted for 61.0%–92.5% of LLAs.1–4) Previous studies have also reported high postoperative mortality rates ranging from 4.2% to 13.5% among patients undergoing LLA.2,3,5–12) Reported risk factors for death after LLA include age; male sex; the site of amputation; the requirement of dialysis; and a diagnosis of PVD, DM, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, or renal insufficiency.2,3,5–11,13) However, most previous studies of LLA were limited because of the selected study populations and small sample sizes. Studies with large representative samples