Profile of Amputations Performed at Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos, Over a Five-Year Period

Amputation remains a morbid surgical outcome with profound physical, psychological, and socioeconomic consequences for patients and their families. Understanding the indications, surgical profile, and outcomes of amputations performed at regional hospitals informs efforts to prevent limb loss. This retrospective descriptive study reviews all amputations performed at Plateau Specialist Hospital, Jos, North Central Nigeria, over a five-year period. Theatre records, ward registers, and case files will be reviewed for patient demographics, indication for amputation (trauma, diabetic foot complications, vascular disease, tumour, or infection), level of amputation, pre-operative management, post-operative complications, prosthetic fitting rates, and patient survival at discharge. Descriptive statistics will be used to characterise the amputation profile. The study hypothesises that trauma-related and diabetic foot amputations dominate the amputation caseload. Findings will be submitted to the orthopaedic department and the Plateau State Diabetes Management Programme to guide pre-emptive foot care strategies and trauma protocols. Reducing the burden of preventable amputations through better management of diabetic foot disease and timely orthopaedic trauma care is a key recommendation this research will support. This study contributes to the amputation epidemiology literature in North Central Nigeria, providing data to support limb preservation advocacy and prosthetic rehabilitation programme planning. Keywords: amputation, diabetic foot, limb loss, orthopaedic surgery, Jos.