B12: Amputation, Residual-Limb Care & Rehabilitation / Prosthetics

Amputation is the visible endpoint of a largely preventable pathway, and the mortality that follows is often underappreciated: more than half of people die within five years of a major amputation. A minor amputation is a sentinel event, not a cure, and the other foot becomes the highest-risk foot in the service. Survival, function and quality of life are all modifiable after amputation; the surgery is the midpoint of care, not its end.

The module teaches level selection as a balance between reliable healing and preserved function, using toe pressures, skin perfusion pressure and TcPO2 without over-trusting a single number, and the functional case for preserving the knee. It covers residual-limb care for oedema and contracture, judging readiness for prosthetic fitting, rehabilitation dose, structured contralateral-limb surveillance, and screening for depression, anxiety and phantom limb pain. Advanced content addresses the gaps in the evidence and the design of amputation and rehabilitation pathways.

Content is tiered at Foundation, Core and Advanced level, with two algorithms and case vignettes. You receive the Teaching Document, the Evidence Base, the slide deck and a narrated video.