To estimate the current prevalence of limb loss in the United States and project the future prevalence to the year 2050.
Estimates were constructed using age-, sex-, and race-specific incidence rates ...for amputation combined with age-, sex-, and race-specific assumptions about mortality. Incidence rates were derived from the 1988 to 1999 Nationwide Inpatient Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, corrected for the likelihood of reamputation among those undergoing amputation for vascular disease. Incidence rates were assumed to remain constant over time and applied to historic mortality and population data along with the best available estimates of relative risk, future mortality, and future population projections. To investigate the sensitivity of our projections to increasing or decreasing incidence, we developed alternative sets of estimates of limb loss related to dysvascular conditions based on assumptions of a 10% or 25% increase or decrease in incidence of amputations for these conditions.
Community, nonfederal, short-term hospitals in the United States.
Persons who were discharged from a hospital with a procedure code for upper-limb or lower-limb amputation or diagnosis code of traumatic amputation.
Not applicable.
Prevalence of limb loss by age, sex, race, etiology, and level in 2005 and projections to the year 2050.
In the year 2005, 1.6 million persons were living with the loss of a limb. Of these subjects, 42% were nonwhite and 38% had an amputation secondary to dysvascular disease with a comorbid diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. It is projected that the number of people living with the loss of a limb will more than double by the year 2050 to 3.6 million. If incidence rates secondary to dysvascular disease can be reduced by 10%, this number would be lowered by 225,000.
One in 190 Americans is currently living with the loss of a limb. Unchecked, this number may double by the year 2050.
Hospitals have difficulty justifying the expense of maintaining trauma centers without strong evidence of their effectiveness. To address this gap, we examined differences in mortality between level ...1 trauma centers and hospitals without a trauma center (non-trauma centers).
Mortality outcomes were compared among patients treated in 18 hospitals with a level 1 trauma center and 51 hospitals non-trauma centers located in 14 states. Patients 18 to 84 years old with a moderate-to-severe injury were eligible. Complete data were obtained for 1104 patients who died in the hospital and 4087 patients who were discharged alive. We used propensity-score weighting to adjust for observable differences between patients treated at trauma centers and those treated at non-trauma centers.
After adjustment for differences in the case mix, the in-hospital mortality rate was significantly lower at trauma centers than at non-trauma centers (7.6 percent vs. 9.5 percent; relative risk, 0.80; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.66 to 0.98), as was the one-year mortality rate (10.4 percent vs. 13.8 percent; relative risk, 0.75; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.60 to 0.95). The effects of treatment at a trauma center varied according to the severity of injury, with evidence to suggest that differences in mortality rates were primarily confined to patients with more severe injuries.
Our findings show that the risk of death is significantly lower when care is provided in a trauma center than in a non-trauma center and argue for continued efforts at regionalization.
Policy Points
Traditional approaches to addressing motor vehicle crashes are yielding diminishing returns. A comprehensive strategy known as the Safe Systems approach shows promise in both advancing ...safety and equity and reducing motor vehicle crashes.
In addition, a range of emerging technologies, enabled by artificial intelligence, such as automated vehicles, impairment detection and telematics hold promise to advance road safety.
Ultimately, the transportation system will need to evolve to provide the safe, efficient, and equitable movement of people and goods without reliance on private vehicle ownership, towards encouraging walking, bicycling and the use of public transportation.
Urgent débridement of open fractures has been considered to be of paramount importance for the prevention of infection. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the ...timing of the initial treatment of open fractures and the development of subsequent infection as well as to assess contributing factors.
Three hundred and fifteen patients with severe high-energy lower extremity injuries were evaluated at eight level-I trauma centers. Treatment included aggressive débridement, antibiotic administration, fracture stabilization, and timely soft-tissue coverage. The times from injury to admission and operative débridement as well as a wide range of other patient, injury, and treatment-related characteristics that have been postulated to affect the risk of infection within the first three months after injury were studied, and differences between groups were calculated. In addition, multivariate logistic regression models were used to control for the effects of potentially confounding patient, injury, and treatment-related variables.
Eighty-four patients (27%) had development of an infection within the first three months after the injury. No significant differences were found between patients who had development of an infection and those who did not when the groups were compared with regard to the time from the injury to the first débridement, the time from admission to the first débridement, or the time from the first débridement to soft-tissue coverage. The time between the injury and admission to the definitive trauma treatment center was an independent predictor of the likelihood of infection.
The time from the injury to operative débridement is not a significant independent predictor of the risk of infection. Timely admission to a definitive trauma treatment center has a significant beneficial influence on the incidence of infection after open high-energy lower extremity trauma.
Background Risk-adjusted analyses are critical in evaluating trauma outcomes. The National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) is a statistically robust registry that allows such analyses; however, analytical ...techniques are not yet standardized. In this study, we examined peer-reviewed manuscripts published using NTDB data, with particular attention to characteristics strongly associated with trauma outcomes. Our objective was to determine if there are substantial variations in the methodology and quality of risk-adjusted analyses and therefore, whether development of best practices for risk-adjusted analyses is warranted. Study Design A database of all studies using NTDB data published through December 2010 was created by searching PubMed and Embase. Studies with multivariate risk-adjusted analyses were examined for their central question, main outcomes measures, analytical techniques, covariates in adjusted analyses, and handling of missing data. Results Of 286 NTDB publications, 122 performed a multivariable adjusted analysis. These studies focused on clinical outcomes (51 studies), public health policy or injury prevention (30), quality (16), disparities (15), trauma center designation (6), or scoring systems (4). Mortality was the main outcome in 98 of these studies. There were considerable differences in the covariates used for case adjustment. The 3 covariates most frequently controlled for were age (95%), Injury Severity Score (85%), and sex (78%). Up to 43% of studies did not control for the 5 basic covariates necessary to conduct a risk-adjusted analysis of trauma mortality. Less than 10% of studies used clustering to adjust for facility differences or imputation to handle missing data. Conclusions There is significant variability in how risk-adjusted analyses using data from the NTDB are performed. Best practices are needed to further improve the quality of research from the NTDB.
To describe the prevalence of amputation-related pain; to ascertain the intensity and affective quality of phantom pain, residual limb pain, back pain, and nonamputated limb pain; and to identify the ...role that demographics, amputation-related factors, and depressed mood may contribute to the experience of pain in the amputee.
Cross-sectional survey.
A sample of persons who contacted the Amputee Coalition of America from 1998 to 2000 were interviewed by telephone.
A stratified sample by etiology of 914 persons with limb loss.
Not applicable.
Prevalence, intensity, and bothersomeness of residual, phantom, and back pain, depressed mood as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Study Depression Scale, characteristics of the amputation, prosthetic use, and sociodemographic characteristics of the amputee.
Nearly all (95%) amputees surveyed reported experiencing 1 or more types of amputation-related pain in the previous 4 weeks. Phantom pain was reported most often (79.9%), with 67.7% reporting residual limb pain and 62.3% back pain. A large proportion of persons with phantom pain and stump pain reported experiencing severe pain (rating 7-10). Across all pain types, a quarter of those with pain reported their pain to be extremely bothersome. Identifiable risk factors for intensity and bothersomeness of amputation-related pain varied greatly by pain site. However, across all pain types, depressive symptoms were found to be a significant predictor of level of pain intensity and bothersomeness.
Chronic pain is highly prevalent among persons with limb loss, regardless of time since amputation. A common predictor of an increased level of intensity and bothersomeness among all pain sites was the presence of depressive symptoms. Further studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between pain and depressive symptoms among amputees.
Although the etiology of chronic pain following trauma is not well understood, numerous retrospective studies have shown that a significant proportion of chronic pain patients have a history of ...traumatic injury. The present analysis examines the prevalence and early predictors of chronic pain in a cohort of prospectively followed severe lower extremity trauma patients. Chronic pain was measured using the Graded Chronic Pain Scale, which measures both pain severity and pain interference with activities. Severe lower extremity trauma patients report significantly higher levels of chronic pain than the general population (p<0.001). Their levels are comparable to primary care migraine headache and back pain populations. A number of early predictors of chronic pain were identified, including: having less than a high school education (p<0.01), having less than a college education (p<0.001), low self-efficacy for return to usual major activities (p<0.01), and high levels of average alcohol consumption at baseline (p<0.05). In addition, high reported pain intensity, high levels of sleep and rest dysfunction, and elevated levels of depression and anxiety at 3 months post-discharge were also strong predictors of chronic pain at seven years (p<0.001 for all three predictors). After adjusting for early pain intensity, patients treated with narcotic medication during the first 3 months post-discharge had lower levels of chronic pain at 84 months. It is possible that for patients within these high risk categories, early referral to pain management and/or psychologic intervention may reduce the likelihood or severity of chronic pain.
Previous studies have shown that pain, depression, and anxiety are common after trauma. A longitudinal relationship between depression, anxiety, and chronic pain has been hypothesized. Severe lower ...extremity trauma patients (n = 545) were followed at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after injury using a visual analog "present pain intensity" scale and the depression and anxiety scales of the Brief Symptom Inventory. Structural model results are presented as Standardized Regression Weights (SRW). Multiple imputation was used to account for missing data. A single structural model including all longitudinal pain intensity, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms time-points yielded excellent fit measures. Pain weakly predicted depression (3-6 months SRW = 0.07, P = .05; 6-12 months SRW = 0.06, P = .10) and anxiety (3-6 months SRW = 0.05, P = .21; 6-12 months SRW = 0.08, P = .03) during the first year after injury, and did not predict either construct beyond 1 year. Depression did not predict pain over any time period. In contrast, anxiety predicted pain over all time periods (3-6 months SRW = 0.11, P = .012; 6-12 months SRW = 0.14, P = .0065; 12-24 months SRW = 0.18, P < .0001). The results suggest that in the early phase after trauma, pain predicts anxiety and depression, but the magnitude of these relationships are smaller than the longitudinal relationship from anxiety to pain over this period. In the late (or chronic) phase after injury, the longitudinal relationship from anxiety on pain nearly doubles and is the only significant relationship. Despite missing data and a single item measure of pain intensity, these results provide evidence that negative mood, specifically anxiety, has an important role in the persistence of acute pain.
Severe upper-extremity injuries account for almost one-half of all extremity trauma in recent conflicts in the Global War on Terror. Few long-term outcomes studies address severe combat-related ...upper-extremity injuries. This study's objective was to describe long-term functional outcomes of amputation compared with those of limb salvage in Global War on Terror veterans who sustained severe upper-extremity injuries. Limb salvage was hypothesized to result in better arm and hand function scores, overall functional status, and quality of life, with similar pain interference.
This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the Military Extremity Trauma Amputation/Limb Salvage (METALS) study for a subset of 155 individuals who sustained major upper-extremity injuries treated with amputation or limb salvage. Participants were interviewed by telephone 40 months after injury, assessing social support, personal habits, and patient-reported outcome instruments for function, activity, depression, pain, and posttraumatic stress. Outcomes were evaluated for participants with severe upper-extremity injuries and were compared with participants with concomitant severe, lower-extremity injury. The analysis of outcomes comparing limb salvage with amputation was restricted to the 137 participants with a unilateral upper-extremity injury because of the small number of patients with bilateral upper-extremity injuries (n = 18).
Overall, participants with upper-extremity injuries reported moderate to high levels of physical and psychosocial disability. Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) scores were high across domains; 19.4% screened positive for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 12.3% were positive for depression. Nonetheless, 63.6% of participants were working, were on active duty, or were attending school, and 38.7% of participants were involved in vigorous recreational activities. No significant differences in outcomes were observed between patients who underwent limb salvage and those who underwent amputation.
Severe, combat-related upper-extremity injuries result in diminished self-reported function and psychosocial health. Our results suggest that long-term outcomes are equivalent for those treated with amputation or limb salvage. Addressing or preventing PTSD, depression, chronic pain, and associated health habits may result in less disability burden in this population.
Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Significant health inequities persist among minority and socially disadvantaged patients. Better understanding of how unconscious biases affect clinical decision making may help to illuminate ...clinicians' roles in propagating disparities.
To determine whether clinicians' unconscious race and/or social class biases correlate with patient management decisions.
We conducted a web-based survey among 230 physicians from surgery and related specialties at an academic, level I trauma center from December 1, 2011, through January 31, 2012.
We administered clinical vignettes, each with 3 management questions. Eight vignettes assessed the relationship between unconscious bias and clinical decision making. We performed ordered logistic regression analysis on the Implicit Association Test (IAT) scores and used multivariable analysis to determine whether implicit bias was associated with the vignette responses.
Differential response times (D scores) on the IAT as a surrogate for unconscious bias. Patient management vignettes varied by patient race or social class. Resulting D scores were calculated for each management decision.
In total, 215 clinicians were included and consisted of 74 attending surgeons, 32 fellows, 86 residents, 19 interns, and 4 physicians with an undetermined level of education. Specialties included surgery (32.1%), anesthesia (18.1%), emergency medicine (18.1%), orthopedics (7.9%), otolaryngology (7.0%), neurosurgery (7.0%), critical care (6.0%), and urology (2.8%); 1.9% did not report a departmental affiliation. Implicit race and social class biases were present in most respondents. Among all clinicians, mean IAT D scores for race and social class were 0.42 (95% CI, 0.37-0.48) and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.65-0.78), respectively. Race and class scores were similar across departments (general surgery, orthopedics, urology, etc), race, or age. Women demonstrated less bias concerning race (mean IAT D score, 0.39 95% CI, 0.29-0.49) and social class (mean IAT D score, 0.66 95% CI, 0.57-0.75) relative to men (mean IAT D scores, 0.44 95% CI, 0.37-0.52 and 0.82 95% CI, 0.75-0.89, respectively). In univariate analyses, we found an association between race/social class bias and 3 of 27 possible patient-care decisions. Multivariable analyses revealed no association between the IAT D scores and vignette-based clinical assessments.
Unconscious social class and race biases were not significantly associated with clinical decision making among acute care surgical clinicians. Further studies involving real physician-patient interactions may be warranted.
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