Life expectancy and social consequences of through-knee amputations.

Amputation surgery for gangrene of the lower limb has two primary goals, to save life and to bring the patients back to their previous living conditions. If this can be achieved with restored walking ability the result of the treatment is considered a full success. The purpose of this paper is to describe the risk of death and possibility of returning through-knee amputees to their own home, relating the results to other major levels of amputation of the lower limb.