VA TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
PROJECT REPORT – PATIENT SUMMARY
ON
A Systematic Review of Clinical Predictors of Outcomes in Adults
With Recent Lower Limb Amputation

 In this report:

• What is lower limb amputation?
• What are clinical predictors of outcomes?
• Why was the VA interested in clinical predictors of outcomes?
• How did the VA investigate this topic?
• What did the VA find? ?
• How will this report affect patient care?
• What can patients do to?

What is lower limb amputation?
Lower limb amputation is the removal of a leg. Some common causes of leg amputation are traumatic injury due to combat exposure, a car accident, or medical conditions such as diabetes or vascular problems related to aging.

What are clinical predictors of outcomes?
Clinical predictors are information about the patient that health care workers use to estimate how well a patient will do in treatment and rehabilitation. Outcomes are the results of medical care given to a patient. For amputees, clinical predictors are used to help healthcare providers predict how patients will recover after leg amputation and determine what type(s) of rehabilitation are best for each patient.

Why was the VA interested in clinical predictors of outcomes?
One goal of the VA is to improve the health care offered to veterans. VA developed a guide for clinicians to assist them in caring for veterans with leg amputation. By knowing the information that can help clinicians estimate how patients will recover from amputation, the VA can match up the rehabilitation services that are best able to improve the health and lives of the veteran amputee.

How did the VA investigate this topic?
The VA reviewed the medical literature to identify what information can be used to predict how patients recover from leg amputation.

What did the VA find?
Most of the research was done on older amputees with vascular causes of amputation to see how well they walked around using prosthetic legs. Some information used to predict how well these patients recover from amputation is their age, overall health, and lifestyle. However, the information comes from early research that may not adequately represent the results of amputee populations seen in the VA. More studies and clinical observation are needed to determine the clinical predictors that are suitable for a variety of VA populations including veterans who don’t use prosthetic legs, veterans with both legs amputated, and veterans with combat-related amputations.

How will this report affect patient care?
This report will help the VA identify areas in need of research and deliver better healthcare to veterans who have leg amputation.

What can patients do to?
Patients can help health care providers by providing information as honestly as possible. Patients can also follow their doctor’s advice. This includes living a healthy lifestyle and may involve changing some habits such as not smoking, eating healthier foods, and exercising.

Websites with more information on this topic

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