Amputation of the Leg - How dangerous is leg amputation?
The need to do an amputation is the physician's distressing admission of his inability to cure and is the single most distasteful operation that a surgeon has to perform. Yet it is sometimes the only way to save a life. The reasons for amputation are usually severe injury or impaired circulation due to blood vessel disease. Today amputations are rarely necessary for infection. Amputations for cancer are occasionally undertaken as the only way to manage an otherwise hopeless problem. The sole consoling factor is that present day artificial limbs are well constructed, adjusted and fitted so that with them it is possible to get around very well and to perform virtually all functions. An observer will often not be aware of an artificial leg. It is a long way from the peg leg of Treasure Island's John Silver or the patient condemned to a wheelchair. The results of the operation also depend on having good postoperative care by specialists in limb fitting, physiotherapists, and ...