Freezing an extremity in preparation for amputation.

Patients requiring a major amputation for ischemia are frequently gravely ill. Physiologic amputation obtained by freezing the leg, usually with a tourniquet, will permit delay and intensive preoperative therapy. In an efficient, safe, and convenient method which we have developed and used in 46 patients, a pump circulates antifreeze solution through a specially constructed boot. The last 32 patients so treated have been analyzed as to indications and results. Advantages obtained control of sepsis, correction of diabetic coma, dialysis for chronic renal failure, improvement in congestive heart failure, and improvement in pulmonary function. Four patients had successful below-knee amputations after control of infection that had previously seemed to dictate above-knee amputation. The control of pain and odor, the resultant appreciation of the family, and the lessened demand on nursing staff offer worthwhile benefits in many of the patients, even in some in whom advanced systemic disease prevented survival.