Diabetes-related lower extremities amputations in saudi arabia: the magnitude of the problem.

Background: Data on diabetes-related lower extremities amputations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and perhaps in all of Middle East and North African (MENA) countries are limited, in view of the absence of national registries.

Methods: This review aims to challenge media figures by review of data in the local database of the author, available published data, as well as by analysis of recent annual reports of the Saudi Ministry of Health to estimate the magnitude of the problem. Different methods of analysis are used based on the number of beds, operations and admissions in KSA to generate approximate figures of the annual expected numbers of amputations in KSA and MENA countries.