Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rate of lower limb amputation in Veterans.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in health care, including postponement of nonurgent appointments. These changes, combined with overall decreased activity levels, may have placed individuals with vascular disease at increased risk for skin ulceration and amputation.

Objective: To determine the rates of lower limb amputation in Veterans due to complications of diabetes and/or vascular disease in the year following onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-March 2021) compared to the previous 3 years (March 2017-March 2020).

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

Participants: Veterans with a vascular consult appointment note between March 1, 2017, and February 28, 2021.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: Primary outcome was lower limb amputation rate in the year following onset of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the previous 3 years. Secondary outcome was the rate of lower limb wounds in the same time frame. We hypothesized that rates of lower limb amputation and wounds increased during the pandemic.

Results: Vascular consult appointments (n = 4183) were reviewed between March 1, 2017, and February 28, 2021. Significantly higher rates of amputation (7.52% vs. 5.19%; p = .006) and wound presence (16.77% vs. 11.66%; p < .001) were found 1 year postpandemic compared to the previous 3 years. Amputation and wound rates did not significantly increase between pairs of consecutive years prior to the pandemic but significantly increased between the year preceding the pandemic and the first year of the pandemic (amputation p = .047; wound p = .004).

Conclusions: Increased rates of amputation and wounds in Veterans following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely due to disruption of care, lifestyle changes, and other pandemic-related factors. Awareness of COVID-19-related negative health effects is imperative for health care providers to ensure appropriate allocation of resources and alternate models for care delivery for amputation and preventative care as part of disaster response.