Report to the Veterans' Administration Department of Medicine and Surgery on service-connected traumatic limb amputations and subsequent mortality from cardiovascular disease and other causes of death.

Abstract

Men drafted into the Army, hospitalized during 1944 to 1945 for service-connected trauma to the extremities, and consequently separated for disability were followed for mortality from January 1946 to April 1977. Three groups were established consisting of those whose injury resulted in (a) limb amputation, (b) disfiguration without loss of body part, (c) loss of part of hand or part of foot. Group (a) had a mortality, standardized for age and calendar time, 1.4 times that of Group (b), matched on age and length of service at admission, and 1.3 times that of Group (c), similar on age and length of service to Group (a). The excess mortality of limb amputees was statistically significant (P less than .05) for ischemic heart disease, other diseases of the cardiovascular system, suicide by poisoning, alcholic cirrhosis, and cute pancreatitis. Possibly (P less than .1) there was also an increased risk of diabetes and cancer of the buccal cavity and pharynx.