amputation

amputation

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Removal of any part of the body, usually surgical removal of part or all of a limb.

Congenital amputation means lack of a limb at birth (see agenesis). Surgical amputation may be a lifesaving measure to prevent excessive blood loss from injury or to check the spread of infection, gangrene, or malignant soft-tissue or bone tumours. Reconstructive surgery, prompt treatment with blood and plasma, and rehabilitation have made amputation rarer than in the past. Prostheses reduce handicaps for amputees, whose surgery may have been designed with a prosthesis in mind.

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      in medicine, removal of any part of the body. Commonly the term is restricted to mean surgical removal of a part of or an entire limb, either upper or lower extremity. The reasons for surgical amputation in general are injury, infection, tumour, diabetes, or insufficient blood supply. Persons born without a limb or limbs are said to have suffered congenital amputation. Surgical amputation may be a lifesaving measure for injured persons suffering from both loss of blood and infection; for persons with diabetic or arteriosclerotic gangrene, in whom amputation may be the only method of preventing spread of the gangrene; and for persons suffering from malignant tumours of soft tissue or bone.

      Modern reconstructive surgery makes possible the rehabilitation of many badly damaged limbs without amputation, and experience gained in World War II of early and thorough treatment of the severely injured, particularly through the use of blood and plasma, has saved many extremities. Furthermore, modern prostheses (prosthesis) (artificial parts), particularly for amputations in the lower extremity, have reduced the handicap for the amputee. The congenital amputee seldom requires any corrective surgery but is helped by prosthetic replacement. There is no definitely known causative factor for congenital amputation, but it probably is not a hereditary deformity.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Amputation — Amputation …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • Amputation — Classification and external resources J. McKnight, who lost his limbs in a railway accident in 1865, was the second recorded survivor of a simultaneous triple amputation. ICD 10 T14.7 …   Wikipedia

  • amputation — [ ɑ̃pytasjɔ̃ ] n. f. • 1478; lat. amputatio 1 ♦ Opération chirurgicale consistant à couper un membre, un segment de membre, une partie saillante; par ext. vieilli Ablation d un organe (cf. ectomie, tomie). 2 ♦ Retranchement, perte importante. ⇒… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Amputation — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Amputation Información personal Origen Bergen, Noruega …   Wikipedia Español

  • Amputation — ist in der Chirurgie die theilweise oder gänzliche Abnahme einzelner Gliedmaßen. Der Römer Corn, Celsus, Zeitgenosse des Kaisers Tiberius, gibt zuerst Anweisung zur Vornahme der Amputation brandiger Glieder, aber die mit dieser Operation… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • amputation — AMPUTATION. sub. f. Terme de Chirurgie. Retranchement. Amputation d un bras. Il n a été sauvé que par l amputation de sa jambe. Les Chirurgiens furent d avis de l amputation …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Amputation — Am pu*ta tion, n. [L. amputatio: cf. F. amputation.] The act of amputating; esp. the operation of cutting off a limb or projecting part of the body. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • amputation — (n.) 1610s, a cutting off of tree branches, a pruning, also operation of cutting off a limb, etc., of a body, from M.Fr. amputation or directly from L. amputationem (nom. amputatio), noun of action from pp. stem of amputare cut off, lop off; cut… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Amputatĭon — (v. lat.), Operation, welche Glieder des Körpers od. Theile derselben, auch die weibliche Brust, das männliche Glied, mittelst schneidender Werkzeuge entfernt (wenn es in Gelenken geschieht, Exarticulation), erst seit dem 16. Jahrh., wo man das… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Amputation — (lat.), das Abnehmen eines Gliedes oder Gliedabschnittes durch blutige Operation. Die A. wurde schon in der Hippokratischen Schule geübt, bei Celsus und Galen findet sich Kunde von regelrecht ausgeführten Amputationen, doch kam dies Verfahren… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Amputation — (lat.), kunstgemäße Ablösung von Gliedmaßen oder Teilen derselben mittels einer Trennung in ihrem Verlauf (Kontinuität), während bei der Enukleation oder Exartikulation die Abtragung des Gliedes in einem Gelenke geschieht, bei der Resektion die… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

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