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The Fresnobee is reporting: Fresno County's amputation rate among highest in state
Residents lose toes, feet and legs more than almost anywhere in state.
Quote:
The amputation rate -- .46 per 1,000 in Fresno County in 2010 -- was almost 50% higher than the statewide rate of .31 per 1,000
is that related to:
Quote:
Podiatrists no longer see Medi-Cal patients in their offices since the state cut the care in 2009, Rupley said.
Fresno also doesn't have enough foot specialists for its population. The recommended number is one podiatrist for every 30,000 people, Rupley said. Fresno has 19 working podiatrists and would need almost twice that number to be at the recommended level, she said.
Re: Half the podiatrists = twice the amputation rate?
This is interesting. At our recent certification exams my partner served as examiner in prosthetics. He while there had a discussion with another of the examiners an orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon indicated that while the work we all do in limb preservation (ie: wound care for diabetics etc) was useful it sometimes only puts of the inevitable...amputation. A lot of this he said was attributed to among other things apathy on the part of the patient regarding self care.
So sometimes the yearly review of amputation rates seems to go up in the short run with less practitioners doing foot care, but the question is really would they have had amputation anyway and the statistic would have only been delayed?
Half the podiatrists = twice the amputation rate?
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