Care hospital launches campaign to prevent limb amputation

Hyderabad: CARE Hospitals launched 'Love Your Limbs' campaign to urge patients to be aware of the symptoms and seek timely treatment for Peripheral Arterial Diseases (PAD).

Highlighting the risks of PAD among the Indian population, Dr Gupta, Senior Consultant & Chief, Vascular & Endovascular Surgery, CARE Hospitals, said: "India has a heavy burden of diabetic population and Peripheral Arterial Disease is very common in this patient pool. Due to peripheral neuropathy and diminished sensations in the foot, patients get injured and often develop ulcers on the foot. Moreover, due to uncontrolled blood sugar levels and poor blood flow, these ulcers don't heal and develop infection which if left untreated can result in amputation. Patients must be aware of the symptoms and seek immediate medical opinion to save their limb from amputation."

According to him, if patients observe any PAD symptoms, they should consult a vascular surgeon at the earliest. The most common symptom is 'claudication' which means recurring leg pain mostly in the calf and thigh region, aggravated on walking and requires short rest to get relieved. Such patients can usually be managed with medicines and exercise. Presence of rest pain, gangrene or wounds is referred to as Critical Limb Ischemia and signifies a high risk of limb loss and would require revascularization.

According to WHO, there are more than one million amputations performed every year, with up to 70 per cent of these amputations related to diabetes. As India is now the diabetic capital of world, we have approximately 14 lakh amputations per year performed due to PAD in diabetic patients. Moreover, as per other estimates, below the knee amputations are the most common, representing 71 per cent of dysvascular amputations.

The 'Love Your Limb' campaign has been initiated to encourage preventive measures for PAD. People must adopt a healthy lifestyle and avoid tobacco, junk food and refined carbohydrates since these can result in clogging of arteries. Regular exercise increases the number of smaller arteries in the extremities, which can form natural bypasses that may eventually help improve the results of intervention or even avoid an amputation.