Ways to reduce the frequency of high amputations, post-amputation complications and mortality in diabetic foot syndrome

Despite the success in treatment, currently 30.0% of patients with diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) still undergo high amputations with a mortality rate of up to 54.0–68.0 %. The causes of high low limb amputations in 28.0 % of patients are infection, and in 46.0 % – arterial insufficiency in the stage of critical limb ischemia.
Objective: to improve the results of patients treatment by reducing the number of high amputations of the lower extremities, reducing the occurrence of complications and deaths of the disease.
Materials and methods. To study the results of treatment of patients with DFS, they were divided into two comparison groups and two main groups. From 1982 to 2019, the frequency of amputations, mainly at the hip level, was 71.0 % (177 amputations in 248 patients). These patients formed the first comparison group of observations. The second comparison group (1988–1994) included 58.3 % of patients in whom amputations were performed according to more stringent indications (157 amputations in 269 patients). The first main group of observations (1995–2013) included 9.9 % of patients with DFS who were amputated only for wet gangrene, incurable critical limb ischemia, and infection with a systemic inflammatory response (130 amputations out of 1312 patients). In ischemia with preserved blood flow through the deep artery of the thigh, amputation of the lower leg was performed in a sequential-two-flap method with removal of the soleus muscle. Amputations were completed with the imposition of drainage removable muscle-fascial sutures. The second main group (2014) consisted of 11.4 % of patients who underwent amputations only for sepsis or wet gangrene (124 amputations in 1083 patients). The difference between the second main group and the first was the division of the high amputation intervention into 2 stages.
Results. Comparison of the treatment results in the main groups and in the comparison groups revealed a 6-fold decrease in the number of high amputations (from 64.6 to 10.69 %) and a significant improvement in the main quality indicators. This concerns a 6-fold decrease in mortality, which was a consequence of the introduction of a two-stage tactic for high amputation treatment of the most severe patients and the limitation of indications for amputation of the hip. Using of removable drainage muscle-fascial sutures decreased postoperative wound complications from 51.9 to 13.0 %, and the number of re-amputations decreased in 17th times.
Conclusion. Amputation of the lower extremities for irreversible critical limb ischemia can be performed with a decrease in TcP02 of the stitched stump tissues to no more than 30 mm Hg. Preserving the knee joint improves the possibilities of prosthetics, which allows older diabetics to lead an active life. Methods of performing parallel- or sequential-two-flap high amputation improve the conditions for cutting out racquet-shaped wound flaps, which provides free displacement of the soft tissues of the stump connected by removable drainage sutures.

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