Major limb amputation in Ibadan.

A prospective study of patients who had major limb amputation at the University College Hospital Ibadan over a 5-year period is presented. One hundred and one major limb amputations were performed within this period (71 Males, 30 Females, M:F = 2.3:1). Trauma accounted for 48% of the cases followed by diabetes in 26%, soft tissue infection in 13% and tumours also in 13%. The major post-op complication was wound infection. In accordance with the findings in other centers, a higher proportion of the amputations (69%) were carried out in the lower limbs. Patient's refusal to accept amputation resulted in a delay in amputation in 49 patients. This delay (before surgery) ranged from 1 day to 150 days, with a mean of 15.49 (SD 9.V). From this study, we found that a reduction in vehicular accidents and increasing emphasis on efficient foot care (and glycaemic control) in the diabetic may significantly reduce the rate of amputations in our environment.