“We found that the largest time delay was between onset of symptoms and first contact to a medical doctor. A greater public awareness is needed, to facilitate urgent revascularization and improve outcomes,” states Dr. Louise Londero, Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital of Odense, Denmark.
What did Dr. Londero report in her article, published in World Journal of Emergency Surgery 2014, 9:56? She stated that, “Patient delay is the main cause of treatment delay in acute limb ischemia: an investigation of pre- and in-hospital time delay.” She also shared:
“From onset of symptoms to first contact with a doctor, the time for all patients was 24 (0–1200) hours.
In the group of fourteen patients who had immediate operation, the median time from vascular evaluation to revascularization was 324.5 (122–873) minutes.”
Read Dr. Londero’s article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4232613/
Dr. Greg Vigna, Board Certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and national malpractice attorney explains, “Acute limb ischemia is caused by the sudden decrease in blood flow to the limb. This is a surgical emergency and amputation is performed when the damage is irreversible. Dr. Londero describes that the big problem with acute limb ischemia is that the average time patients presented to the emergency department on average was 24 hours, which is too long. Earlier the better.”
Dr. Vigna continues, “The literature points to a 24 hour therapeutic window from the onset of acute ischemia to surgical revascularization, where outcomes are optimized for both saving the extremity and life.”
Read prognostic factors: https://wjes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1749-7922-9-56
What are the RED FLAG WARNING SIGNS of acute limb ischemia?
1) Paresthesia (numbness)
2) Pain
3) Pallor (unhealthy pale appearance)
4) Pulselessness
5) Poikilothermia (the limb is cold)
6) Paralysis (loss of motor function of the foot)
Dr. Vigna is a California and Washington DC attorney and represents the injured across the country who have suffered serious neurological injuries, amputation, and other serious injuries that result from malpractice. He is a Board Certified Physician in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a Certified Life Care Planner, and an expert on spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, cauda equina syndrome, stroke, amputation, and traumatic brain injury. Vigna Law Group has a non-exclusive association with Ben Martin Law Group, a Dallas Texas firm. Ben Martin is a national pharmaceutical attorney and personal injury attorney in Dallas, Texas.
To learn more: https://vignalawgroup.com
