Impact of limb loss in the United States.

The amputee gets lost in the American health care system because of fragmentation across the continuum. The journey of the diabetic patient with limb loss through the health care system is even more precarious than that of the traumatic amputee. Interventions to address these secondary conditions and improve the health and outcomes of persons with disability have focused on standard medical treatments, such as medication or physical rehabilitation therapies, often to the exclusion of psychosocial interventions. Each member of the amputee rehabilitation team plays a specific and important role in the care and recovery of the person with limb loss.