Incidence of Overuse Musculoskeletal Injuries in Military Service Members With Traumatic Lower Limb Amputation

Abstract

ObjectiveTo describe the incidence of overuse musculoskeletal injuries in service members with combat-related lower limb amputation. DesignRetrospective cohort study. SettingMilitary treatment facilities. ParticipantsService members with deployment-related lower limb injury (N=791): 496 with a major lower limb amputation and 295 with a mild lower limb injury. InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome MeasuresThe outcomes of interest were clinical diagnosis codes (International Classification of Diseases–9th Revision) associated with musculoskeletal overuse injuries of the lumbar spine, upper limb, and lower limb regions 1 year before and 1 year after injury. ResultsThe overall incidence of developing at least 1 musculoskeletal overuse injury within the first year after lower limb amputation was between 59% and 68%. Service members with unilateral lower limb amputation were almost twice as likely to develop an overuse lower or upper limb injury than those with mild combat-related injury. Additionally, service members with bilateral lower limb amputation were more than twice as likely to develop a lumbar spine injury and 4 times more likely to develop an upper limb overuse injury within the first year after amputation than those with mild combat-related injury. ConclusionsIncidence of secondary overuse musculoskeletal injury is elevated in service members with lower limb amputation and warrants focused research efforts toward developing preventive interventions.