Abstract

Background: Surgical amputation has come to stay as a means of eliminating life-threatening disease conditions in a part of the limb and constitutes significant health burden to both the healthcare givers and users. However, its acceptance and rate vary from one part of the world to another. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pattern of limb amputations carried out at the operating theatre of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital from January 2017 to December 2022. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study at the orthopaedic theatre of a tertiary hospital using registers to extract data on limb amputations carried out over a 6-year period. Results: The results of surgical limb amputation carried out over a six-year study period revealed that most of the patients (n=172, 90.5%) were within 40 to 79 years of age (mean age was ….), and the male to female ratio was 1.07: 1. Diabetic foot gangrene was the most common (n=152, 67.25%) indication for limb amputation, followed by trauma (n=33, 14.6%), and the most common type of amputation performed was below-knee amputation (n=122, 53.98%), followed by above knee amputation (n=49, 21.67%). Conclusion: Diabetic foot gangrene was the most common indication for surgical limb amputation, and a relatively higher age of between 40 to 79 years of age was found among the amputees.