Limb Amputation and Limb Deficiency: Epidemiology and Recent Trends in the United States

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive perspective on the epidemiology and time trends in the incidence of limb amputations and limb deficiency in the United States.

Data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project from 1988 through 1996 were used to calculate rates of congenital deficiency, trauma-related, cancer-related, and dysvascular amputations in the United States. Trends over time in adjusted rates were then examined using linear regression techniques.