Cape Bretoners undergoing needless amputations, claims former surgeon

A retired vascular surgeon in Cape Breton says patients are undergoing needless amputations because they can't get the limb-saving treatment they need close to home or in timea claim being met with skepticism by another surgeon.

Dr. Mahmood Naqvi, who still runs a vascular and wound management clinic in Sydney, said he sees about 100 patients a week half of those for vascular issues.

Each year, he said a few of those patients have amputations that might have been prevented if they weren't sent some 400 kilometres away to Halifax for treatment.

Some can't get surgery for morbidity or gangrene soon enough. Others have a blood clot that needs immediate attention, but by the time they reach Halifax for surgery, it's too late to save the limb.

"Even if they send the ambulance it still takes five, six hours," Naqvi, a former medical director of the Cape Breton District Health Authority, told CBC News.

"By the time they get there, most of the people who have a blood clot in their leg, they have to be removed right away and they cannot get removed right away. Then they end up losing their leg."

Most cases go to Halifax

Naqvi said there is one remaining vascular surgeon in Cape Breton who does amputations and minor procedures, but most surgical cases go to Halifax.

He said many of his patients are elderly or poor and getting to Halifax for treatment can be challenging.

"By the time they get something done, a lot of patients have a prolonged morbidity," said Naqvi, who has taught surgeons across the province and was awarded the Order of Nova Scotia in 2008.

Surgeon disputes claims

Dr. Rex Dunn disagrees with Naqvi. Dunn sees vascular patients and does surgical procedures one or two days a month at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

"I'm unaware of any delays that would have resulted in the loss of a limb," said Dunn, adding that colleagues in Halifax are also unaware of any problems.

"I think it would be important for those details to come forward so if there is any way to deal with it, we could."

Dunn said a vascular surgeon from Halifax is doing clinics in Sydney four to six days a month and plans to add operating room procedures.

• Vascular surgeon losesprivileges

Statistics on amputations in the province provided by the Nova Scotia Health Authority show the overall number of amputations performed in Cape Breton has decreased since 2014 to 15 from 27.

In Halifax, there were 105 amputations in 2014, 108 in 2015 and 97 in 2016.

When asked about any recruitment efforts for another vascular surgeon, the health authority said the vascular surgery service in the Eastern Zone "is at its full complement."