Incidence and common causes of major lower limb amputation at a hospital in a sub-district of the City Cape Town municipality.

Abstract

Background: Major lower limb amputation (LLA) is a life-changing event described as the loss of a limb at or proximal to the ankle upwards. The amputation itself is a change in body structure but has a significant influence on many activities, participation in activities and quality of life. Optimal functional outcomes for persons with a major LLA require intensive long-term rehabilitation and costly assistive devices such as prostheses. Due to the high costs associated with it, the increasing number of persons with major LLA places a burden on the resource-limited public health system. In order for the provincial department of health to plan to provide sufficient human and financial resources and procure enough assistive devices such as prostheses, the need for these devices and the incidence of major LLAs should be established. The study aims to determine the incidence and common causes of major LLAs in adults and children who underwent major lower limb amputations at Tygerberg Hospital over one year from 19 December 2019 to 20 December 2020.