Treatments & Services

Treatments & ServicesThe Temple Limb Salvage Center offers advanced alternatives to foot and leg amputation for patients with serious lower limb problems due to diabetes or peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

When patients come to the Limb Salvage Center, they undergo immediate evaluation and receive priority access to a full array of proven care options. Patients receive all testing and care in one convenient and comfortable location at Temple University Hospital. In just one or two visits, they will be evaluated by select members of a multidisciplinary team, including:

  • Vascular surgeons
  • Podiatrists
  • Cardiologists
  • Diabetologists (physicians who specialize in diabetes)
  • Plastic surgeons
  • Orthopaedic surgeons
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists
  • Nephrologists
  • Interventional radiologists
  • Infectious disease experts
  • Neurologists

There are no referrals and no delays between seeing each specialist. Our on-site services include one of the largest ICAVL-accredited vascular laboratories in the Delaware Valley, a radiology suite, blood lab, physical therapy studios and registration services.

From cases affecting only the foot to more complex situations involving the arteries and heart, the physicians at the Limb Salvage Center consider all of the patient's needs as a coordinated team. Our medical team works to develop a prioritized treatment plan for every patient, usually by the end of the first or second appointment.

We offer an optimal array of services to save failing limbs

Our team provides today's most up-to-date diagnostic tools and treatments, including:

Evaluation

In addition to routine wound assessment, such as staging/grading of depth, size, infection and ischemia, evaluation of history and risk factors, x-rays and ultrasound, we offer:

  • Hemodynamic and anatomic vascular assessments
  • Functional studies in the Vascular Laboratory
  • Advanced imaging (e.g., CT angiography, MRI, radionuclide scan) of tissue and bone
  • Neurological and metabolic assessments
  • Biomechanical and podiatric tests including gait analysis
  • Microbiological analyses

Advanced Therapies

In addition to standard chronic and acute wound care options such as dressing, debridement, toe amputation, incision, compression, vacuum-assisted closure and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (off-site), we offer:

  • Minimally invasive vein repair with balloon angioplasty*, laser and stents
  • Traditional open surgical (bypass) procedures
  • Thrombolytics, antiplatelet therapy, and other medical therapies for circulation
  • Vein repair procedures for PAD and other specific vascular conditions
  • Hybrid stenting-plus-bypass procedures
  • Foot-sparing partial amputations
  • Reconstruction of Charcot neuroarthropathy and other foot/ankle deformations
  • Grafting including use of bioengineered skin and alternative tissues
  • Antibiotic therapies based on culture results and patient factors
  • Investigational therapies, including:
    • Bone marrow-derived neoangiogenesis (new blood vessel growth)†
    • Newer therapeutic devices and instruments for limb salvage

*During balloon angioplasty, the surgeon uses tiny inflatable balloons to widen constricted blood vessels and improve circulation

†This procedure extracts the patient's bone marrow cells and implants them in the leg where they form new blood vessels

Follow-up

In close coordination with referring primary physicians, podiatrists and other providers, our clinicians and staff remain involved in the follow-up and rehabilitation needed to ensure healing and avoid recurrences of limb-threatening ischemia. The Center remains engaged in:

  • Post-procedural assessments
  • Disease management and patient education services (diabetes, PAD)
  • Medical and nutritional management
  • Physical therapy and rehabilitation medicine
  • Risk reduction with shoe modification, foot protection and off-loading (bracing)

To schedule an appointment or for more information, call 215-707-LIMB (5462).