Factors affecting wound healing after major amputation for vascular disease

There has been a continuous increase in the incidence of major lower limb amputations from the beginning of the century until the mid-1980s (Table 1). This increase has been attributed to the increasing number of elderly persons, diabetics and smokers (Liedberg and Persson, 1983). During the last decade, several reports from Scandinavia have mentioned a decreased incidence of major amputations (Larsson et al.,