Amputation of gangrenous toes--effect of sepsis, blood supply and debridement on healing rates.

While 32% of the patients in this series who required amputation in the lower limb presented with infected or gangrenous toes, only 9% had pedal pulses. In a prospective study of 26 phalangectomies and 9 ray or transmetatarsal amputations, the definition of a successful procedure was taken as a healed, painless wound at 1 month. By 1 month, 6 wounds were healed, 5 pain-free and granulating and 8 septic or painful; 16 patients had had further surgery. In the end 14 of 35 feet were salvaged, with 2 patients lost to follow-up and 4 with painful or septic feet. The 15 patients who later required below-knee or above-knee amputations were pain-free, but 7 could not be rehabilitated on prostheses. Blood supply and sepsis affected the healing rate, whereas diabetes was unimportant. The final salvage rate was apparent within 1 month of the initial surgery. In the absence of a pedal pulse, the use of clinical judgement for the selection of patients with dry gangrene gave a 50% salvage rate, but only 8 patients were selected for local surgery out of the total of 24 in this category. Sixteen amputations were performed for sepsis in the absence of a pedal pulse; no wound healed and only 2 patients had a clean, pain-free, granulating wound at the end of the 1-month period. Direct arterial surgery played an important role in restoring the pulse prior to amputation.