Launched six months back, PGIMER’s AMPUTEE Care Clinic made great strides in management & rehabilitation of patients with Amputation

Launched six months back, PGIMER’s AMPUTEE Care Clinic made great strides in management & rehabilitation of patients with Amputation

Our endeavor to create a paradigm shift from providing “survival of amputee” to giving “life to amputee”, : Prof. M.S.Dhillon. Head, Deptt. of Orthopedics, PGIMER

“After completion of six months, the Amputee Management Group at PGI has made great strides in the management and rehabilitation of patients with Amputation despite confronted with catastrophic 2^nd wave of Covid-19. Since inception, we have registered more than 200 amputees and for all these patients, our endeavor has been to create a paradigm shift from providing “survival of amputee” to giving “life to amputee”. It is hugely satisfying that we could make visible difference to their lives through focused approach and holistic care under our initiative of AMPUTEE Care Clinic,” stated Prof M.S. Dhillon, Head, Deptt. of Orthopedics, PGIMER while sharing the progress made under AMPUTEE  Care Clinic here at PGIMER today.

Deliberating about the intent behind the initiative, Prof. Dhillon stated, “With our belief that the management of these cases does not end with the amputation surgery, but requires involvement of various specialists to cater to the social, emotional, and psychological problems, as well as requiring vocational counselling and social support for full rehabilitation into society as a functional member, a comprehensive Amputee care Clinic came into being in February 2021 by roping in specialists from various facet of medicine.”

“We started our journey to provide wholesome and holistic care to patients with amputation with the above aims in mind. Over the last 6 months the “PGI Amputee Clinic” has evolved into a one-of-a-kind specialized clinic involving faculty members from the departments of Orthopaedics, PMR (Physical and Medical Rehabilitation), Psychiatry, Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy, Nursing care and prosthetists, all working as a cohesive unit to help the patients to return to the society as a healthy individual with satisfactory physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing,” added Prof. Dhillon while taking the audience through the experience of six months.

Prof. Dhillon further highlighted, “Since its inception, we have registered more than 200 amputees. Most of them had to undergo amputations due to roadside accidents or railway track injuries; however, a few had undergone amputation due to cancer or congenital deformities. As more than 85% of our patients are male and majority of them are in the peak productive years of their life (25-50 years), the loss of limb becomes not only a personal loss but also financial loss to the family especially when it loses the services of its sole bread earner. More than 90% of the patients belong to low to middle socioeconomic strata and majority of them have no social security or insurance.”

Endorsing the need for community engagement to take forward the initiative, Prof. Dhillon elaborated, “ With the support of the PGI and some philanthropic Industrials, we are happy to inform that PGI has started to fabricate “in-house prosthesis “(artificial limbs) at our prosthetic center, which is a big move forward as patients do not to spend huge amounts for procurement of prosthesis from outside agencies.”

Prof. Dhillon further enumerated the accomplishments made under the initiative during the last six months as following :

1. With focused attention, complications related surgery have drastically reduced (<10%), and majority of our patients are free of stump complications. This is due to a special Orthopaedic team that caters to these individuals and prioritizes emergency care
2. Patient support from our dedicated nursing staff and social supporters, has led to increased awareness about life after amputation, and possibility of prosthesis application. Psychiatric counselling has helped minimize reservations and apprehensions; the combined Amputee Clinic interactions have helped, as the amputees see other patients who are walking with artificial limbs and get easily convinced for prosthesis application.
3. Timely and regular follow up in a dedicated OPD with COMBINED CLINICS and interaction with other amputees has helped the patients to clear apprehensions and anxiety regarding the present and the future. The PMR department has provided comprehensive pre prosthetic and post prosthetic care which is very necessary for the success of prosthesis fitment and prevention of prosthesis complications.
4. So far, none of our patients has rejected his or her prosthesis which is commendable as compared to Western and European countries where the rejection rate ranges from 50 -80%.
5. One unique feature is that in addition to guiding patients where to get the artificial limbs, PGI has now fitted more than 20 prostheses to our patients over the last 6 months. With the likelihood of 3D Printing machines to be installed in prosthesis center soon, our speed of manufacturing and accuracy of fitment of Prosthesis shall be further boosted.
6. Now philanthropic industrials (MICRON Industries) have come forward to support this initiative, donating 4.5 lakhs for the care of amputees. More people have come together to increase this donation, and the next 6 months promise much more for these patients. We are now negotiating with them for actual job provisions for some of these amputees.

Prof. Dhillon further elaborated, “With the gaining popularity through word of mouth of “PGI Amputee Clinic”, we not only are catering to the patients who present to us following amputation, but also various hospitals of neighboring states (Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) have started referring their own patients to us so that these patients can also receive a wholesome and holistic approach.”

“Our journey so far has had a single motto; The aim has been to create a paradigm shift from providing “survival of amputee” to giving “life to amputee”. We hope to continue our endeavors in the same direction and make more patients satisfied with our approach,” aptly concluded Prof. Dhillon.