Abstract
Objective: To assess the epidemiology of landmine amputees at the Royal Medical Services (RMS) in Jordan.
Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with amputation due to landmine explosions seen in the prosthetics‐orthotics clinic at the RMS in Jordan between January 1988 and January 2000. The records of all patients injured through landmine explosions were available for study.
Results: During the 12‐year study period, 226 patients with 241 amputations were seen in the clinic. Of these 212 (94%) were male, and 14 (6%) were female. Military personnel comprised 68.6% of the total. The majority of amputations involved the lower limbs, and the most frequent level was trans‐tibial. Most of the patients were injured in the 1970s and 1990s. The majority of the patients were young, and 10% of the patients were children.
Conclusion: The occurrence of amputations from landmine injuries in Jordan is considerable, and places a significant burden on the health care system.