Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene.
As a rule, partial amputations are preferred to preserve joint function, but in oncological surgery, disarticulation is favored.
Method
Curved knives such as this one were used, in the past, for some kinds of amputations.
The first step is ligating the supplying artery and vein, to prevent hemorrhage. The muscles are transsected, and finally the bone is sawed through with an oscillating saw. Skin and muscle flaps are then transposed over the stump, occasionally with the insertion of elements to attach a prosthesis.
Complications
Some amputees experience the phenomenon of phantom limbs; they feel body parts that are no longer there. These limbs can itch, ache, and feel as if they are moving. Some scientists believe it has to do with a kind of neural map that the brain has of the body, which sends information to the rest of the brain about limbs regardless of their existence.
In many cases, the phantom limb aids in adaptation to a prosthesis, as it permits the person to experience proprioception of the prosthetic limb.
Autoamputation
In some rare cases when a person has become trapped (on account of getting a limb stuck) in a deserted place, with no means of communication or hope of rescue, the victim has amputated his own limb:
In 2003, 27-year old Aron Ralston amputated his forearm using his pocketknife and breaking and tearing the two bones, after the arm got stuck under a boulder when hiking in Utah.
A month later, an Australian coal miner amputated his own arm with a Stanley knife after it became trapped when the front_end loader he was driving overturned three kilometers underground. [1] (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/29/1056825279321.html)
When performing an amputation, a surgeon removes a limb, or part of a limb, that is no longer useful to you and is causing you great pain, or threatens your health because of extensive infection.
Although amputations may be required for other reasons, such as severe injury or the presence of a tumor, the most common reason you may need an amputation is if you have peripheral arterial disease (PAD) due to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
PAD is the leading cause of amputation in people age 50 and older, and accounts for up to 90 percent of amputations overall.
Amputation is an acquired condition that results in the loss of a limb, usually from injury, disease, or surgery.
In the US, 82 percent of amputations are due to vascular disease, 22 percent to trauma, 4 percent are congenital, and 4 percent are due to tumors.
The goal of rehabilitation after an amputation is to help the patient return to the highest level of function and independence possible, while improving the overall quality of life - physically, emotionally, and socially.
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