Racial/ethnic disparities in amputation and revascularization: a nationwide inpatient sample study.

This study investigates whether ethnic minorities presenting with critical limb ischemia (CLI) are more likely to undergo major limb amputation compared to white patients. The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database was used to identify all patients admitted with CLI; lower extremity revascularization; and major lower extremity amputation from 1998 to 2005. The NIS identified 240 139 patients presenting with CLI--68.