Clinical profile of limb amputation cases

Objective: to identify the profile of patients who underwent limb amputation in a sample of Brazilian patients.Method: a retrospective study was conducted by reviewing the medical records of patients who sought medical care between January 2011 and December 2020 at a single tertiary referral university hospital. Data collection included age, sex, indications for amputation, amputated limb, level of amputation, and comorbidities.Results: four hundred medical records of amputation cases were reviewed. The median age of the patients was 71 (63-80) years, and the majority were male (69%). Diabetes (60%) and systemic arterial hypertension (55.6%) were the most frequent comorbidities. Lower limb amputations were the most common, and the leading causes were diabetes (41.2%), acute arterial obstruction (17.2%), chronic peripheral vascular disease (14.2%), and trauma (12.7%). Trauma was more frequent in males than in females (p = 0.005), but the other causes were similar between sexes.Knee and above-knee amputations were observed in 47.8%, transmetatarsal and toe amputations in 29.4%, and below-knee amputations in 17.1%.Conclusion: the primary cause of amputations was diabetes, followed by vascular conditions, while trauma was significantly more common among men. Lower limb amputations predominated. These findings underscore the importance of prevention strategies and control of chronic diseases, especially diabetes and vascular diseases, particularly in men.