Session Information
Session Title: Research Spotlight: General Rehabilitation
Session Time: None. Available on demand.
Disclosures: Oksana Witt, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: Describe demographic, amputation and prosthesis characteristics of persons with major upper limb amputation (ULA) and concomitant lower limb amputation (LLA). Determine the association between concomitant LLA and measures of pain, prosthesis satisfaction, quality of life and independence.
Design: Prospective, cross-sectional design.Setting : National telephone survey of Veterans.Participants : 808 U.S. Veterans with major ULA with and without concomitant LLA who received care at the VA between 2010-2015.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures: Demographic, amputation and prosthesis characteristics, upper limb prosthesis satisfaction, health-related quality of life, disability, independence with activities of daily living (ADL).
Results: In comparison to those with no LLA, participants with concomitant LLA were younger on average (60.0 vs 63.7) and had similar mean time in years from initial amputation (31.5 vs. 31.4). Transfemoral was the most common level of lower limb amputation (67.7) and no significant differences in the distribution of ULA levels was found between the two groups. The most common etiology for ULA in those with concomitant LLA was combat injury (48.0%) but infection was the most common (83.3%) in those with bilateral ULA and bilateral LLA. Upper limb prosthesis use of greater than 12 hours per day was more frequent in those with concomitant LLA (47.8% vs. 31.9%), but prosthesis satisfaction was similar among all groups. There were no significant differences found in terms of residual limb, neck or back pain; disability; health related quality of life or need for ADL help across groups.Conclusions: Among Veterans with major ULA, those with concomitant LLA were younger, but had similar time since their amputation and similar distribution of upper limb amputation levels. We did not find differences in measures of non-phantom pain, prosthesis satisfaction, quality of life or independence in our population with concomitant LLA despite the high frequency of transfemoral level LLA.
Level of Evidence: Level III
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Witt O, Resnik L, Borgia ML, Webster JB. Outcomes Associated with Concomitant Lower Limb Amputation in Persons with Major Upper Limb Amputation: Results of a National Survey [abstract]. PM R. 2021; 13(S1)(suppl 1). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/outcomes-associated-with-concomitant-lower-limb-amputation-in-persons-with-major-upper-limb-amputation-results-of-a-national-survey/. Accessed May 20, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2021
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/outcomes-associated-with-concomitant-lower-limb-amputation-in-persons-with-major-upper-limb-amputation-results-of-a-national-survey/