[Amputation or reconstruction of a circulatory compromised severely injured extremity?]

18 patients treated with primary or secondary amputations after severe lower limb open fractures were studied. All limbs had clinical signs of a compromised circulation at the primary evaluation. The various injuries are described and discussed with respect to the general guidelines for primary amputation. The Mangled Extremity Severity Score (MESS) and Nerve, Ischemia, Soft tissues, Skeletal, Shock, Age (NISSSA) scores were calculated. In view of the described injuries, primary amputation was indicated in ten patients according to the general recommendations, 11 patients according to NISSSA and 15 patients according to MESS. Delayed amputation leads t a significantly (p = 0.005) higher number of operative procedures than early amputation (9.2 vs. 2.9 treatments). The decision of whether to amputate or not should be based on sound clinical judgement, but injury scores such as MESS and NISSSA may be helpful.