Amputation Level and Prolactin: Features of the Hormonal Profile of Paralympic Athletes

Purpose: to evaluate the effect of the level of the lower extremities’ traumatic amputation on the prolactin in Paralympic athletes. Materials and methods: medical examination data of 150 athletes with traumatic amputations of the lower extremities (members of national teams of the Russian Federation) was analyzed, athletes’ average age was 34,25 ± 9,17 years, were analyzed, among them women – 29 (19.3%), men – 121 (80.7%). Results: it was revealed that in Paralympic athletes with unilateral amputations, the level of prolactin was statistically significantly higher with loss of a limb at the hip level (163.00 and 227.40 µIU/ml, respectively, p = 0.004), when comparing hormone concentrations in athletes with bilateral amputations no statistically significant differences were found in the level of both legs and both thighs (p = 0.364). Conclusion: athletes with hip amputations have statistically significantly higher prolactin levels than athletes with calf amputations.