Evaluation of below-the-Knee Amputation in the Treatment of Diabetic Gangrene

Abstract

FOR more than ten years there has been a tendency to use below-the-knee rather than supracondylar amputation at the New England Deaconess Hospital in the management of diabetic gangrene when more peripheral procedures are not feasible. At this institution a large number of diabetic patients with peripheral vascular problems are followed continuously. Among these patients the surgeon is confronted repeatedly with the problem of choosing between the two operations. It has seemed apparent that there was somewhat more risk involved in the lower procedure so far as nonhealing is concerned. Postoperative hospitalization and convalescence before the use of a prosthesis . . .