Gritti-Stokes amputations beneficial for trauma patients

To investigate the use of the Gritti-Stokes amputation procedure in trauma patients, Benjamin C. Taylor, M.D., from the Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues evaluated 14 consecutive patients who underwent Gritti-Stokes amputation and 15 consecutive patients who underwent traditional transfemoral amputation. The amputations were performed by orthopedic traumatologists at a level-I trauma center and patients were evaluated at more than 14 months post-surgery. At more than 36 months after surgery, patient-reported functional outcomes were measured using the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) questionnaire.

The researchers found that there were no differences in preoperative variables or demographics. Significantly improved SIP questionnaire overall and domain scores were seen for the Gritti-Stokes group. The Gritti-Stokes procedure left the patients with a significantly longer residual limb (average residual femoral length of 46.1 cm, compared to 34.6 cm for the transfemoral group). Significantly increased rates of walking without assistive devices were seen in the Gritti-Stokes group (five patients, compared to zero in the transfemoral group).

"The Gritti-Stokes amputation appears to be safe and beneficial when utilized in the trauma population," the authors write.

One or more authors or their institutions disclosed financial ties to an entity in the biomedical arena.

More information: Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.