Fewer dialysis patients facing leg amputations

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay News

Losing a leg is one of the most traumatic consequences of advanced kidney disease, but the risk of amputations has dropped significantly since 2000, a new study finds.

 

Between 2000 and 2014, amputations among U.S. patients with end-stage kidney disease who were receiving dialysis were cut by 51 percent. Despite the decrease, however, almost half of patients who had amputations died within a year of losing a leg, Stanford University researchers report.

"Although it is good news that patients with end-stage renal disease receiving dialysis have had a decrease in amputation rates over the past several years, the rates are still much higher than what has been reported in patients with more normal kidney function -- a fact that is probably evident to anyone who has ever spent time in a dialysis unit," said senior investigator Dr. Tara Chang. She is director of clinical research in the division of nephrology at Stanford.

Patients with kidney disease have a higher risk for losing a leg because they have an increased risk for peripheral artery disease, which occurs when there's not enough blood reaching the legs, Chang explained.