[Amputations. A five-year epidemiological study in Buenos Aires City]

An amputation is the removal of a limb by surgery or accident. The aim of this paper was to carry out an epidemiological analysis on patients with amputations treated at the Instituto de Rehabilitación Psicofísica between 2009 and 2013. This is a retrospective, observational and cross-sectional study. The analyzed data included a total of 262 patients: 180 men (68.7%) and 82 women (31.3%). Our population mainly included subjects with only one amputated lower limb (83.6%), of vascular etiology (mostly diabetics) and with an average age of 63.5 years. The second sample group comprised traumatic amputees (29.8%), with an average age of 37 years and with a higher frequency of phantom pain. The characteristics of these groups can make them to behave differently during rehabilitation.