Dysvascular amputations and long-term survival in a 20-year follow-up study

The long-term survival of 21,520 amputations with a 20-year observation period has been calculated. The material includes 5823 amputees with diabetes and 15 697 dysvascular cases without diabetes. The mean age of the amputees with diabetes is 70.6 years and that of the group without diabetes is 75 years. Kaplan-Meier plots of the absolute mortality in relation to age, gender and level of amputation reveals a significant poor prognosis. Among the diabetic individuals, 30% were dead within 6 months and among the non-diabetic individuals 38.4% were dead during this period. The results from this study with a 20-year follow-up period are compared with the corresponding figures for a 12-year period and no clinically important differences are found.