Trends in the Types of Physicians Performing Partial Foot Amputations

Area of Science:

• Podiatric Medicine
• Surgical Procedures
• Public Health Trends

Background:

• Partial foot amputations (PFAs) are critical interventions for severe infections, osteomyelitis, and critical limb ischemia.
• Patients often present with comorbidities and acute manifestations requiring emergency inpatient amputation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To track the recent prevalence of PFAs in the United States.
• To investigate demographic trends of physicians performing PFAs, focusing on medical degree and specialty.
• To quantify the increasing involvement of podiatric surgeons in PFA procedures.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 4 years (2009-2012) of PFA data from the Pennsylvania state inpatient database.
• Inclusion of data from Philadelphia and Allegheny counties.
• Gathering statistics on medical schools from accrediting bodies.

Main Results:

• The number of PFAs in the U.S. increased from 2006 to 2012.
• Podiatric surgeons performed 46% of PFAs in Philadelphia County (2009-2012).
• Podiatric physicians performed 42% of PFAs in Allegheny County during the same period.

Conclusions:

• Partial foot amputations are increasing nationally.
• Podiatric surgeons are performing a substantial and growing proportion of these operations.
• This trend is particularly notable in densely populated areas of Pennsylvania.