Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi), an orthopedic devices company, announced that it has increased the number of lower limb external fixation components donated to its diabetes indigent care program. SBi has donated a variety of fixation devices, valued at about $1.2 million, during the past year to regional limb salvage programs serving indigent patients in the states of New York, Georgia, and Iowa.
“More than 75,000 non-traumatic amputations are being performed annually in this country, of which 85 percent may be preventable either through earlier diagnosis of diabetes-related diseases of the lower limb, or late-stage salvage using fixation technology of the type donated by SBi,” Viscogliosi said.
Scott Ludecker, vice president of SBi’s newly created worldwide diabetes & limb preservation business unit, who initiated the SBi donation, said: “SBi is trying to help both patients and physicians when it comes to the issue of amputation vs. salvage, as there is often the potential of saving a limb, if the knowledge and equipment are readily available.”
Lee C. Rogers. DPM, head of the Amputation Prevention Center at Broadlawn Medical Center, Des Moines, IA, added: “As the incidence of diabetes in the US population advances, the need for help of this kind is important because it is a disease of the poor who seldom seek treatment until pain and lack of mobility become unbearable.”
“In limb salvage or lengthening to correct deformity, the more training and the more hardware we receive – the more patients we can treat. It’s that simple,” said David Gitlin, DPM and Instructor in Surgical Services at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine.
“Patients afflicted with Charcot Foot Disease and other musculoskeletal conditions resulting from diabetes can benefit, as demonstrated in these clinics, from our program to provide hardware and support services to advance the cause of limb salvage technology,” Viscogliosi added.
The surgeons quoted in this announcement provide consulting services to SBi.