Table 1. Injury Characteristics of Patients who Underwent Amputation or Limb Salvage.

Injury Characteristics	Early Amputation	Late Amputation	Limb Salvage
	(≤90 Days Postinjury)	(>90 Days Postinjury)	(No Amputation)
	Unilateral	Unilateral	Unilateral
	n = 440	n = 78	n = 107
Age (median)	24.2	24.3	22.8
ISS (mean/median)	16*/14	12*/10	14/10
Mechanism of injury (% blast)	89*,†	74*	68†
Amputation or limb salvage Injury location (%)
Above the knee	37	12	23
Below the knee	63*,†	88*,‡	77†,‡
TBI (%)	34	27	29
Preinjury psych diagnosis (%)	10†	9	6†

Amputation times (days postinjury) per patient were 0: n = 523; 1–30: n = 58; 31–90: n = 6; 91–180: n = 10; 181–360: n = 26; 361–730: n = 41; and >730: n = 7).

Differences between unilateral groups (p < 0.05 chi-square or Fisher’s exact test as appropriate) were *early amputation versus late amputation, †early amputation versus limb salvage, and ‡late amputation versus limb salvage.

The primary leg-threatening injury among patients who underwent limb salvage: G-A grade IIIC (8%), G-A grade IIIB fractures (56%), G-A grade IIIA (8%), major soft-tissue injuries (14%), penetrating vascular wound (7%), and severe foot/ankle injuries (8%). Over 50% had more than one of these injury criteria.

G-A = Gustilo-Anderson classification for open fractures; ISS = Injury Severity Score, TBI = traumatic brain injury.