People with kidney failure are nearly ten times as likely as other Medicare beneficiaries to undergo lower extremity amputation during their final year of life.

Despite having a poor prognosis, individuals with kidney failure who had a lower extremity amputation in their last year of life had a greater likelihood of admission to—and prolonged stays in—acute and subacute care settings during this time. They also were more likely to die in the hospital and discontinue dialysis, and to spend fewer days receiving hospice services.