Large Decline In Diabetes-Related Amputations Reported

Tue, 31 Jan 2012

The number of foot and leg amputations carried out on diabetic patients in America has fallen dramatically over the last 20 years, according to new government research published in the journal Diabetes Care .

In the study, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysed data from two national studies that looked at diabetes prevalence and nontraumatic lower-extremity amputations (those typically caused by circulation problems due to diabetes ) among people age 40 and over.

Both surveys tracked numbers from 1988 to 2008, but overall declines in amputations were noted beginning in 1996 when the age-adjusted rate of nontraumatic limb amputations among those with diabetes was 11.2 per 1,000 people. In 2008 it was 3.9 per 1,000 people.

When broken down by age, those older than 75 had the highest rate at 6.2 per 1,000 people, while men had higher rates than women.

The study authors attributed the declining figures to several factors, including better management of foot care and diabetes, drops in rates of cardiovascular disease, and better blood sugar control .

But they also highlighted that despite amputation rates falling, the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes in the US has risen drastically in the past 20 years, from 5.4 million in 1998 to 17.1 million in 2008.

Also, the rate of nontraumatic lower-extremity limb amputations in 2008 was still around eight times higher among those with diabetes that in the regular population.

Co-author Nilka Rios Burrows of the CDC said: "We must continue to increase awareness of the devastating health complications of diabetes . Diabetes is the leading cause of lower-limb amputations in the United States."

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