Long-term clinical outcomes of war-related hip disarticulation and transpelvic amputation.

BACKGROUND

The Iran-Iraq war (1980 to 1988) was one of the longest wars of the twentieth century. Few studies are available in the current literature evaluating the long-term results of proximal lower-extremity war-related amputations. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to evaluate the current health-related quality of life and clinical musculoskeletal function of Iranian veterans with hip or hemipelvic amputation.

METHODS

Seventy-six patients from a cohort of eighty-four veterans with hip disarticulation and transpelvic amputation participated in this study. A Persian version of Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) was completed for all of the veterans.

RESULTS

The average duration of follow-up was 26.6 ± 3.7 years. The average age (and standard deviation) of the veterans was 44.1 ± 7.0 years. The average scores for the physical and mental health dimensions of the SF-36 were 45.85 ± 21.56 and 57.98 ± 25.19, respectively. These data indicate that the amputees were doing better in the mental domain than in the physical domain. Forty-five patients with a primary amputation (97.8%) and ten with a secondary amputation (33.3%) complained of pain in the amputation stump.

CONCLUSIONS

Veterans with proximal lower-extremity amputation will need life-long care. Supervision starts with stump management and the application of appropriate surgical techniques at the time of the injury and continues with periodic examination throughout life.