AMPUTATION
It is estimated that 5 to 6 percent of the U.S. population is diabetic with the annual health care cost exceeding $20 billion. More than $1.5 billion of that is the cost of lower extremity amputations as a result of diabetic foot infections.
Untreated or undertreated foot infections can lead to bone infection. When tissue death, gangrene, and bone infection overwhelm a body’s ability to heal, amputation is often seen as the only alternative.
Diabetic patients account for approximately fifty percent of all the lower extremity amputations performed for non-traumatic reasons.
Although the incidence of amputation in diabetics remains unacceptably high, it is a
poor and costly solution. When a limb is amputated, a diabetic patient is generally hospitalized for 40 days,
with an additional six to nine months of rehabilitation.
Many elderly diabetic amputees remain wheelchair bound for the rest of their lives because they lack sufficient energy, balance, and strength to walk. Being sedentary may lead to other health problems, including difficult-to-heal bedsores.
Is that just how amputation is?
No.
Individuals who lose limbs traumatically can expect to be rehabilitated to full activity.
SOCIAL COSTS OF DIABETIC AMPUTATION
What are the social costs of amputation? Even though the individual experiences an irreversible decrease in the quality of life, amputation is also something that affects the larger society. Many diabetic amputees fail to maintain productive lives because they can no longer sustain gainful employment. Many require public assistance, at substantial cost.
From children faced with seeing a parent deformed surgically to those family members and friends who become caretakers, the tragedy of diabetic amputation exacts a price not completely measured in dollars.
Heal your diabetic wounds. Make an appointment today
to discuss what hyperbaric oxygen can do for you.
For a limited time, Dr. Spiegel will provide a free assessment to determine if you would benefit from this treatment.
