Racial Differences in Vascular Assessment Prior to Amputation in the Veterans Health Administration

PURPOSE: It is unclear whether disparities in the care provided before lower extremity amputation (LEA) is driven by differences in receipt of diagnostic work-up versus revascularization attempts. METHODS: We performed a national cohort study of Veterans who underwent LEA between March 2010 and February 2020 to assess receipt of vascular assessment with arterial imaging and/or revascularization in the year prior to LEA. RESULTS: Among 19,396 veterans (mean age 66.8 years; 26.6% Black), Black veterans had diagnostic procedures more often than White veterans (47.5% vs. 44.5%) and revascularization as often (25.8% vs. 24.5%). CONCLUSION: We must identify patient and facility-level factors associated with LEA as disparities do not appear related to differences in attempted revascularization.