[Incidence of amputaciones of the lower extremities in the population with diabetes mellitus in Málaga (1996-1997)].

OBJECTIVE

To find the frequency of amputations of lower limbs (ALL) with the aim of designing a programme to prevent ALL in people with diabetes mellitus (DM).

DESIGN

Retrospective observation study.

SETTING

Population study in Malaga and its province.

PATIENTS: The clinical records of everyone with ALL in public or subsidized hospitals in the province of Malaga between January 1 1996 and December 31 1997 were reviewed. Traumatic or tumoural ALL were excluded. Cumulative incidence, relative risk (RR) of ALL and the mortality rate of people with DM were calculated.

RESULTS

449 ALL took place during the period studied, 316 (70.3%) in people with DM and 133 (29.6%) in people not suffering DM. The incidence of ALL per 100,000 people and per year was 6.3 (CI: 4.7-7.8) in the population without DM and 136.1 (CI: 114.9-157.3) in people with DM. The RR of ALL was 21.6 (CI: 17.6-26.4) for the population with DM, with differences between men and women (16.8 vs. 36.1, respectively). Mean age of ALL was significantly greater (p < 0.05) for the population with DM (70.0 +/- 10.2 vs. 68.9 +/- 15.9 years old). Older ALL were more numerous in both women and men in the two groups studied. The mortality rate, complications and mean stay in hospital were greater in the population with DM.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirmed the greater risk of ALL run by people with DM. The incidence of ALL in this study was less than in countries of Northern Europe, the USA and Australia, but more than in any study published before in Spain.