CONGENITAL LIMB ANOMALIES AND AMPUTEES TAYSIDE, SCOTLAND 1965-1994

The purpose of this study was to review the 68 patients who had been r eferred to Dundee Limb Fitting Centre during the period 1965-1994, wit h a congenital anomaly of a major limb requiring prosthetic replacemen t. A profile of the incidence of congenital anomalies, amputation leve ls and prosthetic fitting was obtained. During the period only 68 case s with 80 congenital anomalies were referred. During these 29 years, 2 0 cases required surgical amputation and overall 35 surgical procedure s were performed in these cases, only 3 were in the upper limb. The in cidence of upper and lower limb deficiency was similar. The patients r epresented a small proportion (1.6%) of the patients who were reported to have congenital anomalies. Figures indicated that about 8% of all live/still births have some form of anomaly. Prosthetic fitting and us e was successful in all 68 cases but long term life follow-up is neces sary to ensure continued prosthetic use.