How San Antonio doctors are working to reduce diabetic amputations
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A new University Health clinic brings together doctors from different specialities with the aim of preventing or easing diabetes-related amputations in South Texas.
Why it matters: People in Bexar County are more likely to be hospitalized and to experience an amputation for diabetes than elsewhere in Texas, per state data compiled by the city. When they lose a limb, their life expectancy can plummet, doctors tell Axios.
- Living without a limb can also lead to significant struggles with mental health and make it difficult to find and keep employment.
The latest: The new Limb Salvage Clinic opened in September at University Health's Texas Diabetes Institute on the West Side.
- Founding director Anand Prasad is a cardiologist with a background working with diabetes patients. He sees patients alongside Michael Sobolevsky, a podiatrist and limb salvage specialist.
- The collaboration can help someone's treatment plan progress faster as there's less need to refer a patient elsewhere.
Context: Over time, high blood sugar can cause diabetes complications that can lead to an amputation, per the CDC. Peripheral arterial disease makes it harder for the body to carry blood to the legs and feet. A small cut can become a serious infection.
- Diabetes is especially prevalent in Hispanic communities, partly due to genetics and low access to health care and nutritious food.
- The clinic's patients are primarily Hispanic men 40–65 years old.
How it works: There are usually three pathways for the clinic's patients, Prasad tells Axios. In some cases, they can prevent an amputation and help the wound heal.
- In others, someone may need a partial amputation, which could be a toe.
- An amputation above or just below the knee is the worst-case scenario because it raises someone's risk of death, Prasad says.
Zoom in: Diabetes-related amputations are more common in Bexar County than across Texas. But they've fallen slightly.
- In 2019, about 79 people per 100,000 were hospitalized for a diabetes amputation in Bexar County. In 2023, it was about 71.4 people per 100,000.
What's next: The Limb Salvage Clinic is expected to expand to University Health's upcoming Palo Alto Hospital on the South Side, set to open in 2027.
- Areas on the South Side typically have higher rates of diabetes and fewer medical facilities.