{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T01:13:03Z","timestamp":1792458783131,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,10]],"date-time":"2022-01-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1641772800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: The current epidemiology of lower limb amputations is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine (1) lower extremity amputation rates as a function of age, gender, and amputation level between 2015 and 2019, (2) main diagnoses indicating amputation, (3) revision rates after lower extremity amputation. Materials and Methods: Lower extremity amputation rates were quantified based on annual Operation and Procedure Classification System (OPS) and International Classifications of Disease (ICD)-10 codes from all German medical institutions between 2015 through 2019, provided by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). Results: In 2019, 62,016 performed amputations were registered in Germany. Out of these 16,452 procedures (26.5%) were major amputations and 45,564 patients (73.5%) underwent minor amputations. Compared to 2015, the incidence of major amputations decreased by 7.3% to 24.2\/100,000 inhabitants, whereas the incidence of minor amputation increased by 11.8% to 67.1\/100,000 inhabitants. Highest incidence was found for male patients aged 80\u201389 years. Patients were mainly diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease (50.7% for major and 35.7% for minor amputations) and diabetes mellitus (18.5% for major and 44.2% for minor amputations). Conclusions: Lower limb amputations remain a serious problem. Further efforts in terms of multidisciplinary team approaches and patient optimization strategies are required to reduce lower limb amputation rates.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina58010101","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,10]],"date-time":"2022-01-10T22:03:13Z","timestamp":1641852193000},"page":"101","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":40,"title":["Lower Limb Amputation Rates in Germany"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"58","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0654-2076","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nike","family":"Walter","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Trauma Surgery, University Hospital, 93053 Regensburg, Germany"},{"name":"Department for Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital, 93053 Regensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0208-4650","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Volker","family":"Alt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Trauma Surgery, University Hospital, 93053 Regensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Markus","family":"Rupp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Trauma Surgery, University Hospital, 93053 Regensburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Molina, C.S., and Faulk, J.B. 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