Major upper-limb amputations are often performed for nontraumatic causes such as limb ischemia, malignancy, and infection. Given that limited data exists correlating the clinical profile and surgical outcomes, researchers conducted a study to evaluate these factors by analyzing the demographic details, clinical presentation, risk factors, and surgical outcomes of patients undergoing major upper-limb amputation for nontraumatic indications.
A retrospective observational study was conducted over a two-year period (August 2023 to August 2025) at a tertiary care center. Data was collected from hospital records with respect to demographic details, comorbidities, Doppler and computed tomography angiography findings, indications and level of amputation, and postoperative outcomes, including duration of hospital stay, revision amputation, surgical site infection, intensive care unit admission, readmission, and mortality.
Among the 23 patients who were included, 78.9 percent were middle-aged, and 69.6 percent were male. The left upper limb was involved in 73.9 percent of cases. Diabetes mellitus was present in 60.9 percent of patients, hypertension in 39.1 percent, and 65.2 percent included people who smoked. Anemia was observed in 69.5 percent, and hypoalbuminemia in 39 percent. Brachial artery involvement was noted in 30 percent of cases. Limb ischemia was the most common indication (78 percent), followed by necrotizing fasciitis (17.4 percent). Transhumeral amputations were performed in 91.3 percent of patients. Revision amputation was required in 8.6 percent of cases. Hospital readmission occurred in 4.3 percent, and one case (4.3 percent) of mortality was recorded. The mean hospital stay was 8.7 days.
The researchers concluded that vascular insufficiency was noted to be the leading cause of nontraumatic major upper-limb amputation and that early diagnosis and aggressive management of vascular and infectious etiologies may improve limb salvage rates and reduce morbidity and mortality.
The open-access study, “Clinical presentation, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of patients who underwent major upper-limb amputation for nontraumatic indications: a retrospective study,” was published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science.
