DIABETIC FOOT AMPUTATION;

Diabetic foot lesions have remained a major cause of morbidity inpatients with kidney failure. Foot complications are more than twofolds in diabetic nephropathypatients, and the rate of amputation is 6 to 10 times higher in diabetic nephropathy patientsin comparison to the general diabetic population. Objectives: To determine the frequencyof diabetic nephropathy in patients undergoing diabetic foot amputation. Study Design:Observational cross-sectional study. Setting: Surgical Department Unit-II, Sheikh ZayedMedical College and Hospital Rahim Yar khan. Material and Methods: The duration of thestudy was 2 years from Dec-2013 to Dec-2015. A total number of 73 patients were includedin this study. Patients who were admitted to the department of surgery for amputation of thefoot or the leg having the history of diabetes regardless of their age and sex were selectedfor this study. Data analyses were carried out using SPSS Version17 software. Quantitativevariables were presented as Mean and standard deviations. Frequency and percentages werecomputed for qualitative variables. Results: The mean age of the patients was 57.51±7.61years. Out of 73 cases, there were 43(58.9%) males and 30 (41.1%) females. Previous historyof amputation was observed in 26 (35.62%) cases, 48 (65.75%) patients were hypertensive.Out of 73 patients, Forty (54.79%) had controlled diabetes and 33 (45.21%) had uncontrolleddiabetes. Twenty seven patients (36.99%) were diagnosed for diabetic nephropathy. Theincidence of nephropathy was high in patients with advancing age. This incidence was in 26(56.62%) patients with age 51 to 60 years and 18 (39.13%) in patients having age more than 60years. Conclusions: Lower extremity amputations are strongly associated with nephropathy indiabetic patients. It is very important to check and improve the renal function in patients withdiabetic foot ulcers who are hypertensive, increasing age and long duration of DM to preventlower limb amputations.