Rates of reamputation high in patients with diabetes

(HealthDay)—Nearly four in 10 patients with diabetes who have undergone initial amputations secondary to diabetes will have a reamputation within five years, according to a review published online June 10 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

Rongqi Liu, from Podimetrics Inc. in Somerville, Massachusetts, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to assess trends in reamputation rates in people with diabetes. The meta-analysis included 22 studies.

The researchers found that at one year, the reamputation rate for all contralateral and ipsilateral reamputations was 19 percent, which grew to 37.1 percent at five years. For contralateral reamputation, the rate was 20.5 percent at five years. The investigators observed no evidence of change in the reamputation rates over more than two decades of literature analyzed.

"These alarming reamputation rates have made no progress in two decades, even as innovative health solutions have dominated the market," study coauthor Gary Rothenberg, M.D., of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, said in a statement. "To bring these rates down and ultimately eliminate amputations, we have to be more focused on preventive care."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to Podimetrics.

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