Amputation, removal, usually by surgery, of an external part of the body, most often a limb or part of it. Amputation may be required when an arm or leg has been severely crushed or, in diabetic persons, following death of an extremity due to impaired blood circulation. Limb tissue may also die from infection (see GANGRENE), frostbite, burns, or arteriosclerosis (see ARTERY). Removal of a limb may also be required to prevent the growth of a bone cancer called osteosarcoma, a malignancy that usually occurs in children. Some amputees continue to feel painful sensations from the area of the former limb, a condition called phantom-limb pain.
In recent years surgeons have developed the ability to reattach severed limbs, fingers, toes, ears, and hands. The technique is called microsurgery because the surgeon reconnects the severed nerves, tendons, and blood vessels with the aid of a microscope.
See also PROSTHETICS.
