Feasibility Study on Closing the Rehabilitation Gap in Patients after Major Amputation as Part of an Innovation Fund Project. Implementation, Experiences and First Results

Major amputation of the lower limb is a stressful and mementous procedure with high challenges for personal, social and occupational reintegration. The complex management of the rehabilitation process of patients after lower limb amputation (LLA) needs extensive knowledge in terms of medical issues, therapeutical strategies and social law. Even more, since sectoral structures clearly differ depending on the region and its population density. An innovative project, funded by the German Federal Joint Committee within a program to support innovations in medical supply (Innovationsfonds-Projekt) is evaluating and implementing a new model in the rehabilitation of patients with LLA. The key is to implement a medical care-manager who is helping the patients to get along with the new situation after LLA by offering different options and managing medical issues. Furthermore, the main goal of the project is to implement an outpatient interim rehabilitation in a university hospital for physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) directly after amputation and discharge from the surgical ward. The aim of this paper is to present the experiences, the obstacles as well as the challenges and possibilities of this new approach to postoperative rehabilitation after LLA. Furthermore, first results will be demonstrated.