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Can Gangrene Be Treated At The Age Of 102?
mom is 102...she is in nursing home and has developed gangrene...4 toes are black, and was sent to local hospital. Dr. says they want to amputate above knee. I feel that the compassionate thing is not to have her to go through such a trumatic surgery at that age. Am i sentencing her to a worse scenario by letting it go untreated?
Thu, 12 Jun 2014
Hi,
Gangrene is dead tissue and causes could be commonly atherosclerotic ischemia at this age. Atherosclerosis is a major cause of peripheral artery disease.
A color doppler would suggest the amount of vascular patency present and the amount of blocks (partial or complete) in the major blood vessels in the leg.
Gangrene tissue has to operated and removed, otherwise it could get infected and lead to serious life threatening septicemia.
Amputation is necessary, but below knee or above knee depends on evaluation of patency of the blood vessels. If they are not patent, gangrene could happen again in the near future, leading to another surgical amputation procedure.
Discuss with her about the complications and if she is unable to, you need to make the discussion. Take care.
Hope i have answered your query. If you have any further queries, ready to help again.
Gangrene is dead tissue and causes could be commonly atherosclerotic ischemia at this age. Atherosclerosis is a major cause of peripheral artery disease.
A color doppler would suggest the amount of vascular patency present and the amount of blocks (partial or complete) in the major blood vessels in the leg.
Gangrene tissue has to operated and removed, otherwise it could get infected and lead to serious life threatening septicemia.
Amputation is necessary, but below knee or above knee depends on evaluation of patency of the blood vessels. If they are not patent, gangrene could happen again in the near future, leading to another surgical amputation procedure.
Discuss with her about the complications and if she is unable to, you need to make the discussion. Take care.
Hope i have answered your query. If you have any further queries, ready to help again.
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