The body with chronic limb‐threatening ischaemia: A phenomenologically derived understanding

Aims and Objectives To explore person and family lifeworld narratives of chronic limb‐threatening ischaemia (CLTI) after major amputation has been offered as a treatment option. Background Chronic limb‐threatening ischaemia manifests as ischaemic pain, ulceration and/or gangrene and is receiving heightened attention due to the increasing health system burden from associated complex wounds and hospitalisations for repeat procedures. The patient and family impact of these manifestations is not well‐reported: current studies largely seek to measure treatment outcomes. Patient‐reported outcome measurements need to be developed but should be underpinned by rigorous qualitative research. Design Prospective, longitudinal, qualitative design using interpretive phenomenology. Methods The journeys of 19 people with CLTI were explored via 42 semi‐structured interviews with 14 patient and 13 family participants. The initial interview was conducted soon after the advice of the need for major amputation, and where amputation followed, participants were invited for a second interview 6 months postprocedure. Hermeneutic phenomenological analysis was guided by Merleau‐Ponty's philosophy of embodiment. Results People with embodied CTLI faced an existential crisis due to the catastrophic impact of creeping decay of their flesh and vascular system, relentless pain and a sense of spreading poison from gangrene, infection and drugs, which disrupted the interleaving of the physical and existential body. Consequent to the creeping decay and surgery, participants also experienced shifting body boundaries and an unreliable body. Conclusions The lifeworld of the patient and family living with CTLI is irrevocably altered through the disruption of a spontaneous and reliable body. This shapes subsequent therapeutic relationships and discourse. Relevance to Clinical Practice People facing CLTI require early patient‐ and family‐centred discussions about the possibility for major amputation and its potential to arrest the further decline of the body and to support the body's existential expression.