Washington DC, 13 July 2023 – Every twenty seconds around the world, a limb is amputated because of diabetes. We would like to say that time’s up for that— and what better way to do that than to team up to eliminate preventable amputation in the next generation.
The American Limb Preservation Society’s Founding President and renowned Professor of Surgery and Director of the Southwestern Academic Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA) at Keck School of Medicine of USC, Dr. David Armstrong, will be teaming up with other esteemed panelists in the Preventing Diabetes-Related Amputations in America: A Solutions Summit organized by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The summit aims to address the challenges contributing to alarmingly high rates of diabetes-related amputations in the United States and explore opportunities for improving outcomes for individuals living with diabetes. Dr. Armstrong will lend his knowledge and expertise to the panel discussion titled “Clinician Expert Panel: Answering the Hard Questions.”
Recent data indicates a disturbing rise in amputations across the United States, with over 154,000 diabetes-related amputations reported last year alone. Shockingly, these rates have increased by 75 percent over the past decade. The causes for this surge include systemic bias, limited access to care, and a general lack of awareness about the conditions leading to amputation.
The summit will facilitate discussions on the challenges surrounding diabetes-related amputations, as well as the opportunities for enhancing outcomes for individuals with diabetes. Dr. Armstrong’s participation on the panel seeks to highlight opportunities for preventing amputations within various healthcare disciplines. The focus will be on reaching patients earlier in their care journey, improving access to specialists and services, and ultimately saving limbs. The panel aims to address barriers within each panelist’s respective specialties, including education, insurance, administration, and other factors.
The American Limb Preservation Society is honored to have Dr. David Armstrong, the visionary behind its mission, represent the organization at this significant event. Through collaborative efforts and shared expertise, ALPS strives to make a profound impact in preventing amputations and advancing limb preservation in the next generation.
Highlights and recordings of the panel and summit will be available here.
For additional information about Professor David G. Armstrong and the SALSA team at Keck School of Medicine of USC, please click here.
For further details, please contact Alison Evans, ALPS Communication & Marketing Coordinator at alison@alpslimb.org.