Every year over 160,000 amputations are performed in America. 60%-80% of Medicare patients who undergo amputation never walk again. Worse yet, there is a 30-50%, 2-year mortality rate following an amputation…meaning that between 30% and 50% of all patients undergoing an amputation die within 2 years of their procedure.
Recent advancements in both imaging and medical device technology have significantly improved a patients chances for a different outcome: avoiding amputation. Educating patients about these new procedures, however, is still very difficult because many of these new advances are known only to the surgeons and universities pioneering them. In fact, recent studies show that more than 54% of patients were not even assessed using diagnostic angiograms to determine if blood flow could be restored to their affected limbs prior to the amputation. Earlier this year, Medicare published figures showing that a full 67% of medicare patients who underwent a major amputation never even had a re-vascularization procedure in an attempt to save their limb.
Dr.’s Kokinos and Pineda are recognized as specialists in the field of lower limb re-vascularization and limb salvage. Having performed more pedal access re-vascularization cases (approaching the affected limb via the foot instead of the groin) than any other physicians in the region provides these South Bay Vascular surgeons with the experience and judgement to help patients avoid diabetic amputations and to treat patients with advanced cases of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) or what is otherwise known as Chronic Limb Ischemia (CLI).
If you or someone you know is facing the possibility of lower limb amputation, STOP! CALL US FOR A SECOND OPINION. South Bay Vascular is Taking a Stand Against Amputation and you should too. Call us at 408-376-3626 to schedule a thorough evaluation of your options. We are specialists in the area of lower limb re-vascularization and we provide hope when others say there is none.