Article Text

Lower extremity reamputation in people with diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
  1. Rongqi Liu1,2,
  2. Brian J Petersen1,
  3. Gary M Rothenberg3,
  4. David G Armstrong4
  1. 1Podimetrics Inc, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
  2. 2Harvard University T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  3. 3Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
  4. 4Department of Surgery, USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA
  1. Correspondence to Brian J Petersen; authors{at}podiography.org

Abstract

In this study, we determined the reamputation-free survival to both limbs and to the contralateral limb only following an index amputation of any-level and assessed whether reamputation rates have changed over time. We completed a systematic search using PubMed and screened a total of 205 articles for data on reamputation rates. We reported qualitative characteristics of 56 studies that included data on reamputation rates and completed a meta-analysis on 22 of the studies which enrolled exclusively participants with diabetes. The random-effects meta-analysis fit a parametric survival distribution to the data for reamputations to both limbs and to the contralateral limb only. We assessed whether there was a temporal trend in the reamputation rate using the Mann-Kendall test. Incidence rates were high for reamputation to both limbs and to the contralateral limb only. At 1 year, the reamputation rate for all contralateral and ipsilateral reamputations was found to be 19% (IQR=5.1%–31.6%), and at 5 years, it was found to be 37.1% (IQR=27.0%–47.2%). The contralateral reamputation rate at 5 years was found to be 20.5% (IQR=13.3%–27.2%). We found no evidence of a trend in the reamputation rates over more than two decades of literature analyzed. The incidence of lower extremity reamputation is high among patients with diabetes who have undergone initial amputations secondary to diabetes, and rates of reamputation have not changed over at least two decades.

  • diabetic foot
  • epidemiology
  • meta-analysis
  • diabetes complications

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

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Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

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Footnotes

  • Contributors RL and BJP: study concept and design, acquisition of data, analysis of data, interpretation of results, and preparation of the manuscript. GMR: study concept and design, and preparation of the manuscript. DGA: preparation of the manuscript.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests RL is an employee of Podimetrics Inc. BJP is an employee and shareholder of Podimetrics Inc. GMR is a consulting medical director for Podimetrics Inc. DGA is on the scientific advisory board of Podimetrics Inc.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

  • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.