gms | German Medical Science

14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT)

17.06. - 21.06.2019, Berlin

Upper extremity amputations in Germany

Meeting Abstract

  • presenting/speaker Nicco Krezdorn - Hannover Medical School, Department of Plastic, Aesthetic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Hannover, Germany
  • Viola Stögner - Hannover Medical School, Department of Plastic, Aesthetic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Hannover, Germany
  • Kai Megerle - Klinikum Rechts der Isar TU München, Klinik und Poliklinik für Plastische Chirurgie und Handchirurgie, München, Germany
  • Peter Vogt - Hannover Medical School, Department of Plastic, Aesthetic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, Hannover, Germany

International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand. International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy. 14th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT), 11th Triennial Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Hand Therapy (IFSHT). Berlin, 17.-21.06.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2020. DocIFSSH19-494

doi: 10.3205/19ifssh0974, urn:nbn:de:0183-19ifssh09743

Published: February 6, 2020

© 2020 Krezdorn et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Outline

Text

Objectives/Interrogation: Macroamputations of the upper extremity - from the level of the mid-hand to more proximal - are relatively rare in developed countries. This is mostly to high standards of work environments, transportation and traffic. When these amputations occur, they represent a major challenge in terms of the possibility of replantation as well as long term functional results.

Specific knowledge on the incidence of macroamputations in Germany is currently lacking and mostly based on case reports.

Methods: We used publicly available data from the summary of quality reports of hospital of the joint German federal committee. We conducted a search query with ICD-10 codes for partial and total upper extremity amputation and OPS codes for limb replantation.

Results and Conclusions: The most recent available database contained data from 2016. A total of 23 traumatic amputations at the level of the wrist, 21 at the level between shoulder and elbow, 9 at the level of the elbow, 14 between elbow and wrist and 23 of not further specified amputations of the upper extremity. A total of 40 replantations of these amputations at various levels has been reported as well.

More than 80 major amputations of parts of the upper limb are documented for a single year in Germany with replantation in less than 50%. Among further more detailed studies of these patients, future efforts should be geared towards prevention as well as modalities for optimizing replantation efforts, such as ex-vivo perfusion for example.