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S. Yagoub1, O. Murtada1
1Ahfad University for Women, School of Health Sciences, Khartoum, Sudan
Background: Worldwide, limb amputation is a very common procedure that is indicated after severe complications of diseases and after major physical traumas which cause a damage that is untreatable. The most common type of major lower limb amputations is called trans-tibial or below knee amputation. Any patient who undergoes an amputation will need thorough educational program to know more about his/her condition, avoid complications, and be able to return to his/her functional and normal life before the amputation.
Purpose: The purpose was to determine the effect of pre- and postoperative patient education on preventing knee flexion contractures in trans-tibial amputation patients in selected centers in Khartoum state.
Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional survey was used in this study. The data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of fifty participants from four facilities have participated in the study. The study was conducted during the period that extended from May to November 2022.
Results: More than half of the participants who received patient education, did not have any complications and 28% of them had complications. Among those who did not receive education who were 22% of the total number of participants, the vast majority of them didn’t experience complications and only one of them experienced complications.
Conclusions: This study concluded that the pre- and postoperative patient education is important as it can decrease the number and severity of complications an amputee might have after the surgery. It also concluded that even if a patient did not receive sufficient patient education, he or she can learn about the prevention and management of the complications from the personal experience, but, this can make the rehabilitation process longer, increase the treatment costs, delay the treatment, or leave the amputee with a lifelong problem.
Implications: Amputees still develop complications after their surgeries for many reasons including the lack of sufficient patients' education and this affects their quality of life greatly. This study emphasized on the importance of patients' education and its role in contractures’ prevention.
Pre- and post-operative Patient education must be part of convention on the right of persons with disabilities aimed to avoid complication after surgery and return them to their normal life. Physiotherapists should educate the patients about the importance of post-operative rehabilitation, and teach them about the causes and treatments of complications. They should also consider the patient’s values when planning the treatment plan.
Pre- and post-operative Patient education must be part of convention on the right of persons with disabilities aimed to avoid complication after surgery and return them to their normal life. Physiotherapists should educate the patients about the importance of post-operative rehabilitation, and teach them about the causes and treatments of complications. They should also consider the patient’s values when planning the treatment plan.
Funding acknowledgements: This work was unfunded. All of the required funding was from the study conductors.
Keywords:
Amputation
Patient education
Flexion contracture
Amputation
Patient education
Flexion contracture
Topics:
Education: clinical
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Musculoskeletal: lower limb
Education: clinical
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Musculoskeletal: lower limb
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Ahfad University for Women
Committee: School of health Sciences research committee
Ethics number: PV 2479
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
