title: Falls in a Young Active Amputee Population: A Frequent Cause of Rehospitalization?
abstract: Falls occur in up to 50% of amputees within a single year of their operation and up to 40% of these falls result in injury. However, there is a lack of data evaluating falls in a young, active amputee population despite an estimated 58% of persons living with an amputation being under the age of 65. The authors evaluated an amputee population (n = 393) with a mean age of 25.53 years. Overall incidence, prevalence, fall characteristics, and risk factors were calculated for falls resulting in rehospitalization. An incidence of 1.92 per 1,000 person years with a prevalence of 2.04% was found with 87.5% occurring within the first 6 months following definitive amputation. Of the patients rehospitalized, 75% required at least 1 surgical procedure. Infectious complications had the most significant morbidity requiring a mean of 5 operative procedures. Those that delayed evaluation (mean = 13 days) vs. those that presented 0 to 1 day from a fall were significantly more at risk of an infectious complication (p = 0.03). This study is the first to report such a relationship, and emphasizes the need for at-risk patients to seek early medical attention as this may minimize the risk of infection and obviate the need for surgical intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, San Antonio Military Medical Center, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
authors.forename: Shaun M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Felcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, San Antonio Military Medical Center, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Stinner
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, San Antonio Military Medical Center, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
authors.forename: Chad A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Krueger
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, San Antonio Military Medical Center, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wilken
authors.affiliation: Center for the Intrepid, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, San Antonio Military Medical Center, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
authors.forename: Donald A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gajewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, San Antonio Military Medical Center, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000674:Amputees; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000639:trends*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*